A Face of Hope
December 5, 2024
Sister Joan at the baptism of a child of a person who was formerly in the Christmas Island Detention Centre.
Sister Joan Kelleher, who lives in Perth, was one the first religious sisters who provided full time pastoral care to people in detention on Christmas Island having arrived there in 2010 not long after the detention centre opened.
“Despite what was often reported about refugees in the media, the refugees I have had the privilege of knowing have only wished to find a safe place for their family to live and to share skills and talents with our country,” she said.
“Many I know who are now on permanent visas, are working and participating in the community and have not taken any support from Centrelink, as relying on welfare is not within their nature.
“They are grateful to be here as for most it was a question of life and death by staying in their country of origin. Nobody gets on a boat and leaves their home and goes out into the ocean not knowing whether they will get here, without a very good reason.”
Prior to Christmas Island Sister Joan had spent time in refugee camps in Asia and Africa.
“Margaret Moore rsm, who was the Mercy Refugee Service Coordinator at the time, became aware that the government had opened this new 800-bed centre on Christmas Island and that a pastoral response was needed.
“It was a combined Jesuit and Mercy project during which several other sisters and Jesuits would come and provide support to us for a few weeks at a time.”
While there, Sister Joan witnessed the suffering and despair experienced by those in detention.
“Each day we would go into the detention centre. Some days people were too distressed to talk. This didn’t matter as our role was as much being a visible reassuring presence as it was engaging in conversation. We sought to try and bring some light to what was a very dark situation and to show the people there that there were people in Australia who cared about them.”
With their being no public transport on the island, Nerida Tinkler rsm, the then President of the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia, arranged for the use of a car for this ministry. The medical team approached her about taking some of the asylum seekers out of the detention centre to give them a break from their depressing conditions.
“Understandably a lot of people in detention struggled to cope. The sense of hopelessness was heightened by the fact that they had no idea how long they were going to be there. It was like a jail. It had barbed wire fences. Forced with no other way of channelling this despair some people sewed their lips together as a sign of protest.”
Joan and other religious also ensured that there were prayer services available at the detention centre for those who wished to attend.
“Eventually the immigration officials allowed the Catholics, who were mainly from Vietnam and Sri Lanka, to go to the local Church and they provided a bus and staff to go with us. In time the refugees started singing the hymns in their own language. The Vietnamese would sing one week and the Sri Lankans the next. The local people responded positively to this and realised that they had something to offer. Their weekly attendance at the Church broke down the animosity from the local community many of whom resented having a detention centre on their beautiful island.”
Sister Joan Kelleher (middle in red) and Sister Maura Kelleher (fourth from the right) with some of the Sri Lankan people who were previously on Christmas Island.
The time shared with the refugees and asylum seekers on Christmas Island has created a bond that continues to the present day between Sister Joan and the other religious who were part of the team.
“There was a group of Sri Lankans that had all come in the one boat and most of them have now settled in Perth. They still gather regularly together as a community. We are invited to their children’s baptisms or birthdays which is such a joy.”
Sister Joan is also in regular touch with several former Vietnamese refugees. Recently she had an unexpected call from one of the Sri Lankan women who now lives in Sydney. She expressed her gratitude about Sister Joan being the first person who took her out of the detention centre and has never forgotten this kindness.
“I think the small act of talking and taking them on a trip around the island provided hope that there was a world out there that they may be one day able to be part of and that there were people out there who cared,” said Sister Joan.
As at 30 September 2024, there were 935 people in Australia’s immigration detention centres with many thousands living in the community on temporary visas. It is estimated by the UNHCR that there are currently 8,000 people in Australia who are effectively stateless.
The new laws passed recently by the Australian Government are the most punitive we have seen in recent years. These new laws will have major consequences for asylum seekers, migrants and people seeking protection in Australia.
Messages to: joan.kelleher@mercy.org.au