A hard-working family of asylum seekers running a successful business could be left penniless and homeless after being stripped of their right to work in Australia.
For the past 11 years, the Kashani family has called Australia home after fleeing persecution in their native Iran.
They have since settled in North Melbourne, where several years ago they opened a popular and busy kebab shop, which now employs a dozen people.
The eldest daughter, Atena, 20, won a scholarship to study law at university before government bureaucrats shattered those dreams late last year.
She was forced to abandon her studies after the family was told she had no study rights under her bridging visas.
Now the Department of the Interior has told the Kashanis that the family will also be stripped of their employment rights.
The measure has been described as “cowardly” by A current issue presenter Ally Langdon in a savage attack on Labour’s immigration minister Andrew Giles.
The Kashani family (pictured) moved to Australia 11 years ago and are still waiting to be granted permanent residency.
The family cannot claim Centrelink benefits because they have not been granted permanent residence
“We wouldn’t have any source of income, we wouldn’t be able to pay the rent,” Atena told the program.
‘We couldn’t afford to buy food, we couldn’t do anything.
“That it is suggested to us that we are being punished for speaking out shows how cruel and inhumane these rules of no one being held accountable for anything are.”
Atena’s mother Fatemeh, who also works at Bunnings, is distraught at the prospect of the family eventually being deported.
He recently ended up in hospital due to the anxiety the saga has caused him.
“We are not human in this county,” Fatemeh said.
‘I feel helpless. I need a normal life.’
His daughter added: “You’d think after 11 years we’d call Australia home.”
The department has since given the family a six-month reprieve to continue working.
Atena had to abandon her university studies because the family did not have study rights under their bridging visas.
The family met with Labor Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, who has the power to grant the family permanent residency and has previously promised to help the Kashanis.
Long before Labor was elected to government in 2022, Giles proudly posed for photographs with Atena holding a haul of taekwondo medals a few years ago.
“He told us: ‘Take a photo with me, Australia is proud of you, we need you,'” Fatemeh recalled.
Atena recalled that Giles promised to attend her taekwondo fights and promised that a Labor government would do everything it could to support the family if elected.
The family also volunteered for the Labor Party during the 2022 election campaign, who they claim also promised to help the family if the party came to power.
“They gave us these big red T-shirts to wear, they told us if you helped the Labor Party something would happen,” Atena recalled.
The family will be forced to close their kebab restaurant if they are stripped of their employment rights.
The family’s plight prompted an angry outburst from ACA host Ally Langdon at the end of the segment.
‘Isn’t this the kind of hardworking people we want in our country?’ she said. ‘What is happening to this family is a shame.
“They feel they were tied down, used and forgotten once Labor won the election.
‘We want to know if there is any brave MP who will defend this family because the Immigration Minister is a coward!’
The Interior Department declined to comment on individual cases due to privacy concerns, a spokesperson said.
Atena (left) and her mother Fatemeh (right) claim that Labor politicians promised to help the family if they were elected to power in the 2022 election.
“The department’s staff aim to ensure the visa application is finalized as quickly as possible and support people through the process with various support services,” the spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Everyone’s situation is different and the Department of Home Affairs strongly recommends that people consider their own circumstances when applying for the visa that best suits their needs.
“There are a wide range of visa options across Australia’s visa and migration programs that provide pathways for people to apply for family, skilled, humanitarian and temporary stay in Australia.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Giles for comment.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles (pictured) previously met the family and has the power to resolve the saga.