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'I will be at immediate risk of deportation'
Trans USyd student fights refoulement
Alex McKinnon
March 05, 2025
A trans University of Sydney student seeking asylum in Australia is facing the prospect of refoulement to Malaysia for allegedly writing pro-Palestine slogans on university whiteboards.
On February 3, the University's Office of the Academic Registrar advised Luna* that she was being investigated over alleged misconduct that could result in her suspension or expulsion from the university. Luna is enrolled at the University on a Student (subclass 500) visa, making her stay in Australia reliant on her continued enrolment.
"If the Student Affairs Unit suspends my studies, I will be at immediate risk of deportation from Australia," Luna wrote in a letter to the Registrar. "Suspension will most likely lead to the cancellation of my electronic Confirmation of Enrolment and subject my student visa to cancellation by the Department of Home Affairs."
"I am a transgender woman seeking asylum in Australia due to immense violence and persecution in my home country, Malaysia," Luna wrote. "As a transgender woman, I have been denied access to gender-affirming care, including hormone replacement therapy, in Malaysia and can only access essential health care in Australia.
"This means that the threat of suspension is a direct threat of life-threatening violence and forced de-transition, removing my access to hormone replacement therapy."
Malaysia criminalises the gender expression of trans people, with governmental and religious hostility fueling widespread discrimination and violence. In 2019, trans woman Sameera Krishnan was murdered after being beaten and thrown from a moving vehicle. Police declined to register her murder as a hate crime. Nineteen trans people were murdered in Malaysia between 2007 and 2019.
The Registrar alleges that, on two separate occasions in January, Luna entered a University building using her student swipe card and used a green marker to write pro-Palestine slogans on multiple whiteboards in several tutorial rooms.
It is alleged Luna wrote the following slogans:
"USYD invests in weapons manufacturing (Thales, Lockheed Martin). USYD supports genocide in Gaza. As of 13 Jan 2025 46,600 dead."
"USYD Vice Chancellor Mark Scott supports Gaza Genocide."
"From the river to the sea Palestine will be free."
"As of 13 January 2025, 46,600+ dead in Gaza USYD cut ties with genocide."
"As of 27 January 2025, 43,000 Dead in Gaza killed by USYD investments in arms industry. USYD cut ties with Palestinian genocide now."
"The green marker that you used above was not a whiteboard marker, and the text you wrote was difficult to remove from the whiteboards," the Registrar alleged.
The University claims that Luna may be in breach of several clauses of its Student Discipline Rule, which classifies misconduct as "misusing any University facility or resource in a manner that is unlawful, or is detrimental to the rights or property of others", and as "damaging, destroying, stealing, removing or misappropriating University property".
The University also claims Luna breached its Campus Access Policy by staging a "demonstration" (defined as "any protest activity on University lands") inside a building (as opposed to in "open spaces"), that was not "orderly and peaceful" as it resulted in "damage [to] property," and without notifying the University at least 72 hours in advance.
The University also cited its Student Charter, which states that students "use University resources equitably, responsibly and with sensitivity to the needs of others, and without impeding access or use by others," and Clause 4 of its Advertising on Campus Policy, which covers the permitted locations for graffiti such as chalking and the posting of print posters and notices.
The University gave Luna until March 7 to respond to the allegations. In a letter to the Registrar, Luna alleged the University refused her request to extend the deadline for a response until after March 21, when she will qualify for a bridging visa and no longer be dependent on her university enrolment to stay in the country.
Responding to the University's notice, Luna wrote: "I am providing a written response under extreme duress due to the conditions that the Student Affairs Unit has put me under.
"On 24 February, I wrote to the Student Affairs Unit that I ‘hope to respond after March 21st, when [I] will hold a bridging visa and will be able to assess this matter in a clear-headed fashion, without worrying about being deported to danger’," Luna wrote.
"On 25 February, the Student Affairs Unit acknowledged the existence of my request saying that I am an asylum seeker status student concerned about being deported to danger. The Notice of Alleged Misconduct stated ‘likely penalty if the conduct is admitted at this stage’ is ‘suspension from the University.’
"This is why I believe that, by forcing the deadline to be March 7, the Student Affairs Unit is weaponising extreme pressure to coerce a response from me."
In her letter to the Registrar, Luna also questioned the appropriateness of the alleged behaviour being the subject to a Notice of Alleged Misconduct.
"It is my understanding that the alleged misconduct involves erasable written statements made in a private postgraduate study space on a University-provided whiteboard with a University-provided, non-permanent marker over the semester break," she wrote.
"These statements include anti-genocide messaging written by a wide variety of people all across campus, on whiteboards, on wooden desks, and on notice boards."
"I believe that the Student Affairs Unit has yet to explain in detail how the actions and wordings have broken policies [and] why the conduct is deemed inappropriate and unreasonable."
"The University aspires to be a safe, welcoming and inclusive place for all, including our trans and gender-diverse community members, and always to stand against discrimination. All students, staff and visitors should feel supported and free to contribute freely and fully, regardless of gender, sex characteristics or sexual orientation,” states University of Sydney provost and deputy vice-chancellor Professor Annamarie Jagose on the university website.
“I want to reiterate the University's active commitment to ensuring a safe and supportive environment for all, and acknowledge that ongoing, targeted action is required to achieve this.
“This is neither an act of charity nor even tolerance. It is in our institutional self-interest because recognising and welcoming diversity in our community makes the University a better place.
“A diverse and inclusive environment benefits us all."
*Luna’s name has been changed.
If you’ve got anything to spare, please consider giving some money to this fundraiser I’m running for Noor Hammad, a young mum in Gaza, and her baby daughter Hoor. Any money raised will be sent to Noor's brother Abdallah Abdalrahim, who lives in Sweden and can send her money directly.
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