Juan Aburto still gets a bit fearful at the sight of police in Sydney, even though he has been in Australia for four decades, because he still carries the memories of being tortured by the Augusto Pinochet regime in Chile.
One of the youngest survivors of the brutal dictatorship, he was only 16 when he was blindfolded and forcibly disappeared until a lifeline was extended to him by Australia which gave him and his family refuge.
"One of the main things that torture does to your brain is create fear ... so as a person with torture and trauma, going through a police check creates a triggering impact on me," Mr Aburto said.
"Even though I'm 52 years old that person that was tortured at the age of 16 is still with me ... and from time to time that person that suffered so much trauma will try to come out."
The information technology professional has become a passionate mental health advocate for refugees who were victims of similar experiences, forging a long association with the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors.
Jorge Aroche, the service's CEO and a trained clinical psychologist, noted that many refugee clients from various diaspora have real fears about being surveilled or being tapped by fellow citizens even in their new homeland for their political activities.
These fears have been confirmed with Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil saying on Monday "foreign interference and espionage are the most significant national security concerns that our country faces today."
The government introduced a raft of measures including setting up a Foreign Interference Communities Support Hub to help diaspora communities identify and report such threats and making permanent the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce established in 2020.
In recent years, dissidents have spoken up about harassment and intimidation in Australia from foreign governments such as China, India, Iran and Rwanda that have been confirmed by Australia's intelligence agencies.
Espionage charges were laid against a Russian-born couple for the first time since laws were introduced in 2018, the Australian Federal Police said on Friday.
After graduating with a PhD in Political Science from Griffith University, Mubashar Hasan was inspired to go back to his home country of Bangladesh and contribute by teaching at a university and working for the United Nations as a consultant.
But the Australian Bangladeshi was forcibly disappeared and detained in Dhaka for 44 days in 2017 by intelligence officers.
"I was held in an illegal secret prison ... I didn't know if I'd be able to see my family again alive or not. After 44 days I was let go on the condition that I would leave the country or else my family would be targeted."
"I've seen places no one would like to see, grown up men being made to cry, no access to sunlight - the whole is unofficial even though it is being operated by officials," Dr Hasan explained.
But he has not been silenced and has become an outspoken human rights advocate warning governments about the reach of intelligence agencies overseas.
He says Bangladeshi diaspora members in Australia who have relatives that have been forcibly disappeared or extra-judicially killed are more hesitant to speak out in their new surroundings for fear of having their families being targeted in their homeland.
"I'm very lucky to be here and speaking in front of you which is an incredibly humbling experience," he said.
