Marking the beginning of the Kurdish Genocide, it was a campaign that resulted in the loss of more than 180,000 innocent lives and forced Burhan to become a refugee. 

Desperate to find safety, Burhan made a number of unsuccessful attempts to flee Iraq when fighting broke out before finding refuge in Greece for two years. His journey of finding permanent refuge from war-ravaged Iraq culminated when Burhan was successfully granted a refugee visa to Australia in 1994. 

Burhan said he can still remember his warm reception at the airport, which has prompted him to denounce the weight of the findings released by Essential Research on September 21. The poll revealed 49 per cent of Australians support a ban on Muslim migration. 

"The first sentence I heard when I arrived was 'welcome to Australia,” Burhan said. 

"I think the survey of 1000 people online doesn't count as Australian opinion. This is the only country I have felt belonging, and I am part of this country and this community. 

"I work with refugees on a daily basis and when all the Muslims came out as refugees, we heard only one sentence - 'welcome to Australia.' There have been refugees here for only three months and they say 'I am Australian' because they feel belonging.

"The survey doesn't represent Australian people ... because we all belong here. We all look after this country and we all love it. At the end of the day, we are all Australian." 

Having arrived in Australia as a Vietnamese refugee in 1981, Wollongong resident Loan Nittel echoes Burhan’s sentiments and is supportive of the increase to Australia’s humanitarian refugee intake announced on September 20.

"No one wants to be a refugee," Loan said. 

"We have plenty of space in Australia, so come. Everyone should come. It has given my family so many opportunities ... We're all working, all paying taxes, and giving back to the community every way we can.

“This is the life we chose and it was a battle every day getting here.” ​

With only the clothes on their backs, Loan left Vietnam in pursuit of a safer life with her parents in 1979. 

While most ten-month old’s were taking their first steps, Loan boarded a wooden fishing vessel in her mother’s arms bound for Malaysia to flee persecution. 

After living in a Vietnam crippled by war, corruption and vilification for more than 25 years, Loan’s parents made the ultimate decision: to embark on a journey across seas where many drowned, were attacked by pirates, or became lost at sea in the search for a safer life. 

Longing for freedom, Loan and her parents sat shoulder-to-shoulder with 363 other refugees for more than five nights with little food, water and fresh air. As day broke on the fifth morning, the Malaysian beach was visible. 

“My mum remembers [it] clearly,” she said. 

“The captain started sinking the ship and we scrambled for shore. It was dark and raining. Mum held me in her arms, wondering how we hadn’t drowned. We made it to the shore. I was crying, cold and covered in sand and water.” 

For the next two years, Loan and her family lived in a Malaysian refugee camp with 42 000 others who were hopeful of a better life. With 

minimal rations available in the camp, Loan suffered from malnutrition causing her head to enlarge and her knees to weakly develop, which impacted her ability to walk. 

Having patiently “played the waiting game,” Loan’s family were rewarded when the Grafton Sisters of Mercy sponsored her family to leave the refugee camp. 

On April 30, 1980 Loan and her parents arrived in Australia – a move that Loan said profoundly shaped her life. As a mother of two children, Loan said Australia has given her endless opportunities.

“After a year in Grafton … dad got a job at BHP in Wollongong,” she said. 

“He was able to earn an income. He worked every double shift he could, [and] they made it a point to us never to take anything for granted.

“We saved every dollar we could and sponsored my grandparents to move to Australia. My dad was very proud to be able to get a loan from the bank and put a deposit on a three bedroom home. 

“Through good fortune and hard work, my parents raised four kids and put us all through University … I welcome refugees so they can get the same types of opportunities.”