A missile destroyed Jasmina's feeling of security, but Australia offered her a fresh start.

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In a prelude to surgery on a breast cancer patient, Dr Jasmina Kevric scrubs in outside the operating theatre of Melbourne’s Cabrini hospital — a routine she performs several times a week as a specialist surgeon.

The routine is now second nature, but the journey that brought her here is anything but ordinary.

It has taken Kevric 20 years of struggle, sacrifice and perseverance to become a surgeon, since arriving in Australia as teenage refugee.

“Being a refugee is incredibly difficult,” the 39-year-old said.

“Nobody wants to be a refugee, nobody wants to be sent to another country away from their home, their loved ones, their work, their passions.”

A female doctor in scrubs holds her gloved hands in the air.

Jasmina Kevric arrived in Australia on a humanitarian visa with her family in 1999. Source: Supplied / Cabrini Hospital / Catherine Butterfield

‘It was so surreal’

As a child, Kevric fled the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, an international armed conflict between 1992 and 1995 that is estimated to have killed over 100,000 people.

She recalls the day war reached their family farm. It was a moment she said changed her life forever.

“I was standing in the middle of our yard when I heard a missile fall. I waited for it to land, to run in the opposite direction,” she said.

“The next moment, I heard a huge bang and splinters flew towards me. Inside our damaged home, most of my family was lying on the floor and not moving.”

A child in a red and blue parka and a blue cap stands in a garden.

Jasmina Kevric was a child when she fled the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the remaining members of her family in the mid-90s. Source: Supplied / Dr Jasmina Kevric

“My grandparents were lying in a pool of blood. My grandfather was on top of my brother, protecting him,” she said.

“My dad had blood flowing down his face and my uncle was also lying there.

“Then, soon after, I saw the medics arrive. It was so surreal. I was standing on the stairs watching while they worked to stop the bleeding and put pressure on the injured limbs.

“And looking at them [medics] working to save my family, I decided I wanted to do that, too. To provide help to vulnerable people and perhaps inspire others to do the same.”

Kevric survived the war along with her parents, Sejdefa and Dzevdet, and brother Edin, but many treasured items were lost along the way.

“We had nothing with us. My mum’s greatest regret was leaving family photos behind,” she said.

“Losing those cherished moments was difficult. You can lose things like furniture, even a house, it’s alright. But losing those memories was the worst part.”

Kervic’s story is one of rare triumph — the kind that builds on years of resilience, but it’s far from typical.

‘Occupational downgrade’ in Australia

They are experiencing an “occupational downgrade”, according to the report released earlier this week, adding to the existing knowledge about the challenges refugees in Australia can face in gaining a foothold in the labour market.

Lead author of the report, John van Kooy, told SBS News: “Occupational downgrading” basically means for those that were working in professional and managerial roles prior to coming to Australia — in sectors like business, human resources and IT — many of those individuals, even after 10 years of permanent residency in Australia, were not able to find the same level of employment or occupational status.”

A man with a beard and a brown shirt smiles at the camera.

Lead author of the AIFS report, John van Kooy, says barriers to employment persist for many refugees. Source: Supplied / John van Kooy

According to the study, 30 per cent of employed women and 19 per cent of employed men had worked in managerial or professional roles before arriving in Australia. That dropped to 17 and 10 per cent respectively after 10 years of residency.

Van Kooy said researchers surveyed 2,400 humanitarian migrants over a decade. Most were from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Myanmar.

“It is significantly the largest longitudinal study of humanitarian migrants in Australia, and one of the largest in the world,” he said.

The occupational downgrade was worse for women.

More than two-thirds (67 per cent) of women who had been managers or professionals in their home countries were not in paid work in Australia. The remaining women were mostly carers, cleaners, education aides or sales assistants.

Van Kooy said women in families with children under five years old were 84 per cent less likely to be in employment compared to men over that period.

Many of those who were unable to have their skills recognised ended up self-employed or setting up their own businesses, the study found.

“More than one-fifth of the sample ended up in self-employment or had started a business, which is higher than the rate of self-employment for the Australian-born population,” van Kooy said.

“It shows that the refugee cohort is resilient, and they will do what they need to do to earn income and support their families, and get ahead in Australia.”

Journey to Australia

Kevric understands that reality well.

In the 30 years since she fled her war-torn homeland, she has built a new life from the ground up.

She’s now giving back — volunteering her time and services to support other refugees, at the Cabrini Asylum Seeker and Refugee Health Hub in Melbourne’s Northcote.

“I feel incredibly proud and privileged to be able to reach this point in my life where I can provide the support that refugee patients need,” she said.

“And I know that anyone going through a life-changing event, whether that be a war or cancer diagnosis or loss of a loved one, becomes aware of how precious life is and that it should never be taken for granted.”

Kevric and her family initially fled to Germany when the war ended, living there as refugees for four years.

“During the war, we did not have a great deal to eat. Food was scarce, and I did not attend school. All my parents could do was provide me with some homeschooling, and there was really no end in sight,” she said.

“So, fleeing to Germany was one way that my parents could get us out. They took it despite the risks.

“Getting into a truck to cross the border took courage and was quite dangerous. It could spell life or death for us, and war had taught us what death was.”

But Kevric and her family had no permanent home, so they applied for humanitarian visas and arrived in Australia in 1999.

“My parents were so excited. We had a new home that we could hopefully one day call our forever home,” she said.

“Starting school was great because I met other refugees from different backgrounds. I went into Year 7, but I didn’t speak any English. So that was my biggest hurdle.

“And I had missed out on so much education over my 14 years. But I still wanted to become a doctor, and I was hungry to learn.”

A man crouches on a beach with his arms around a woman and a child.

Dr Jasmina Kevric (right) with her husband Martin and daughter Sophia, 4, in Melbourne. Source: Supplied / Dr Jasmina Kevric

Kevric later earned a scholarship to study medicine at the University of Melbourne. In 2010, she graduated and pursued a medical internship.

“What I really wanted was to become a surgeon, but becoming a surgeon in Australia takes a lot of sacrifice, a lot of studying, time and dedication,” she said.

“Also, only about 13 per cent of surgeons are female. So as a woman, I faced additional barriers which I did not appreciate until I started my surgical training.”

She became a general surgeon in 2021 and then undertook a three-year breast surgery fellowship, training at leading cancer centres, including the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne and the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse in Sydney.

Kevric won the prestigious Junior Doctor of the Year title in 2022, at the Australian Medical Association Victoria awards.

Skills to help with ‘complex health challenges’

Professor Suresh Sundram is clinical director of Cabrini Asylum Seeker and Refugee Health Hub where Kevric volunteers.

He is grateful for medical professionals who bring both expertise and lived experience.

“These doctors are able to more sensitively manage and deal with refugees and asylum seekers who present with complex health challenges. They may have limited language skills or knowledge about mental health issues,” he said.

“And of course, their pre-migration experiences of conflict, which forced them to flee in the first instance, their torture and trauma background or their migration journeys may be very harrowing.”

The hub provides free healthcare for hundreds of asylum seekers and refugees who are unable to afford or access mainstream healthcare services.

A man in a blue suit with a red striped tie smiles at the camera.

Suresh Sundram is the clinical director of Cabrini Asylum Seeker and Refugee Health Hub, which provides free healthcare to asylum seekers and refugees. Source: SBS / Scott Cardwell

It is part of a vast global network of Cabrini health services, founded in the United States in 1880 by an Italian immigrant.

“St. Francis Cabrini established the Cabrini Order in New York to cater to the needs of the immigrants that were coming into America. And this refugee hub is a great example of the sort of work that she was doing and wanted to promote,” Sundram said.

Kevric is married and has a four-year-old daughter, Sophia. She is proud to be contributing to the country that gave her family a fresh start.

“I want to give back to Australia for offering us a second chance. And I want to help provide the best healthcare system that we can deliver.”

She is also keen to raise awareness about the broader challenges that refugees face — people who, like her, have lost so much and are working to rebuild their lives.

“I want to remind people about the potential that refugees bring to this country. They may be Australia’s future doctors, lawyers or politicians,” she said.

“By working together, we can make this country even better.”

Refugee Week is marked from 15-21 June this year.