Key Points
- Zainab Al-Sweedy arrived in Australia as a child refugee after a seven-day voyage.
- She said her experiences in a detention centre had inspired her to study law.
- She was recently selected as Young Lawyer of the Year for South Australia.
Ms Al-Sweedy spent the first nine years of her life in Iraq but persecution by the Saddam Hussein regime forced her parents to make the difficult decision to board a refugee boat in 1999.
Along with her parents and two brothers, she said she made the seven-day journey to Australia among distressed people and at the mercy of people smugglers.
She was recently awarded Young Lawyer of the Year by the South Australian Law Society for outstanding contributions to the profession and the wider community.
Ms Al-Sweedy was presented with her 2023 Young Lawyer of the Year for South Australia award at a gala ceremony. Source: Supplied / Zainab Al-Sweedy
Life in detention
Ms Al-Sweedy told SBS Arabic24, “When we arrived in the Australian Regional Authority, we were received by the Australian Navy and we were placed in a detention centre in (Woomera) South Australia where we spent about nine months.”
"My brothers and I were children. They didn't call us by our names, but (we) each had a specific number. We used to eat when the bell rang and then go back to the room or go out to the patio."
Ms Al-Sweedy and her family were detained at the Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre which was opened in 1999 and, after public pressure including protests and riots, closed in 2003.
Detainees at the Woomera detention centre in South Australia in 2001. Credit: AAPIMAGE
We were in the middle of the desert not knowing if the outside world even knew we existed.Zainab Al-Sweedy
Protests at the Woomera detention centre in 2002. Public pressure led to the centre's closure the following year. Credit: TOM MILETIC/AAPIMAGE
Young Lawyer of the Year award
Her dedication to her field of work and her service to members of the community recently earned her the Young Lawyer of the Year award in South Australia in recognition of her efforts and hard work.
This award is due to my mum and dad, because they feel they brought us to Australia through a difficult path, but the result was good.Zainab Al-Sweedy
Nominees are judged on their contributions to the legal profession, their legal achievements and other criteria the judges consider is relevant.
She said her husband, Tarek Elkady, was her biggest supporter and the one who encouraged her to take this career path.
Specialising in law
Ms Al-Sweedy said her at-times traumatic childhood had led her to specialise in the field of immigration law.
She said she wanted others to be able to arrive in Australia "in a safer way" than she had.
The scenes of panic on the boat were still imprinted on her memory, she said.
(There was a lot of) screaming on the boat when someone wanted to commit suicide, because (it was supposed to be) our last day (but) we could only see water around us.Zainab Al-Sweedy
Ms Al-Sweedy runs educational seminars for women who are newly arrived migrants to Australia. Source: Supplied / Zainab Al-Sweedy
Her focus was especially women, she said, because laws were difficult and the language barrier prevented them from communicating easily. There was sometimes a fear of lawyers among people as well, she said.
Listen to Ms Al-Sweedy's story in the audio recording at the top of the page.
