Afghan Sisters Reunite in Melbourne, Gain Australian Citizenship

After three years of separation across continents, Afghan sisters Arya and Adiba Ganji are finally living under the same roof again in Melbourne.

Adiba was just 16 when she packed a bottle of water, two pieces of bread, and her passport, leaving her family behind in Kabul. It was August 2021, and the Taliban had just captured the city as American troops withdrew.

As a national soccer team player, Adiba knew what Taliban rule meant for Afghan women. No work. No education. Certainly no sports.

"I was counting the airplanes in the sky and I wanted to be in them," she said, watching humanitarian flights evacuate thousands from Kabul's airport. She and her older brother boarded one of 32 Australian military flights that rescued 4,100 people in late August 2021.

Their parents and four siblings stayed behind.

After arriving in Melbourne, Adiba learned English, worked at a cafe, and joined nearly 30 of her former teammates playing for Melbourne Victory's Afghan Women's Team. But she never stopped working to bring her family to safety.

With help from Victoria Legal Aid, Adiba successfully brought her sister Arya, two younger brothers, and mother to Australia in 2024. The reunion after three years apart was everything the sisters had dreamed of.

Now 18, Arya attends high school in Melbourne. Under Taliban rule, that simple opportunity would have been impossible.

Why This Inspires

The Ganji sisters' journey reveals an important truth about building new lives in a new country. Getting citizenship isn't as simple as filling out forms, especially for refugees who fled with almost nothing.

Victoria Legal Aid lawyer Yoko Kamanda explains that many refugee applicants lack basic identity documents or have information recorded incorrectly. "Most of our clients don't even have a passport," she said.

Through a little-known provision, Arya will actually become an Australian citizen before her older sister. Applicants aged 16 to 17 can apply individually without completing the citizenship test or meeting full residency requirements that adults face.

Adiba will receive her citizenship later this year at an official ceremony. Their father and older sister remain in Pakistan, where the government has been deporting Afghans without valid documentation back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

But Adiba remains hopeful they'll join the Melbourne family soon. For now, she's grateful for what seemed impossible just five years ago: safety, opportunity, and her family together again.