Working as a junior doctor in Baghdad, Dr. Munjed Al Muderis’ life changed forever when he was ordered by the military to cut off the ears of army deserters. Unwilling to do it, he fled Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in 1999, and sought asylum from Australia by sea.
After ten months in mandatory immigration detention, Munjed was recognised as a refugee and released. Just two months later, he was working in a hospital in Mildura. Munjed has since pioneered a new prosthetic limb, allowing amputees to walk again, sooner. The smiles on the faces of children seeing their parents walk for the first time are among his proudest memories in Australia.
Munjed is a passionate human rights advocate and a reservist in the Royal Australian Air Force. He lives in Sydney with his wife, daughters, and dog, Mozart.
“A refugee is a refugee. It doesn’t matter if you’re a toilet cleaner or a doctor…we are all human.”