St Oswald's Anglican Church, 100 High Street, Glen Iris, Victoria, Australia
Ashburton Asylum Seeker Support Group
Our Sri Lankan asylum seeker family have been granted work rights. Under the terms of their appeal for refugee status, for many years they have not been allowed to work in Australia. Now that they are legally able to work it is not easy for them to find employment, though they are anxious and willing to try anything. If you know of any jobs they could do, or know of anybody who could help them find work, we would be thrilled to hear from you.
Background of Sri Lankan Family which the Ashburton –Glen Iris Asylum Seeker Group Supports
Our Singhalese Sri Lankan family have been living in Australia for over eight years on a Bridging Visa E, which does not allow them access to medicare. They are a young couple, in the prime of their lives, and are ready and willing to work. They were given poor advice from their former migration lawyer when they first arrived in Australia and consequently did not apply for refugee status within forty five day of arriving here. Currently, they are living in the Chisholm electorate in a house provided by an Anglican family.
Because of circumstances in Sri Lanka, the husband believes he is unable to return to his home. He is a Buddhist, who attended school in Sri Lanka that had a mixture of Tamils and Singhalese. He talks of problems that include desertion from the air force and a subsequent financial debt owed for his training as well as the psychological problems arising from his war service and from Singhalese and Tamil interactions. He has a very real fear that, if returned, he would be targeted, by either Singhalese or Tamil fighters seeking revenge. In addition, the truce in Sri Lanka has now lapsed and terrorist activity would make it unsafe for his wife and children.
The wife is a Roman Catholic and attended an English speaking Roman Catholic school in Sri Lanka and finished her schooling at about Year 10 level when she married. She is much younger than her husband.
Our Sri Lankan family have two children. The elder is aged 11 years and was born in Sri Lanka. He has done all his schooling here in Australia and is currently in Grade 6 at the local primary school and looking forward to starting at the local Secondary College next year. This boy is an outgoing young lad, very sociable with a kind compassionate nature. He is a buddy for younger students at his school and is very interested in science and in nature and enthusiastic about sport. He is a competent reader and works well with his peers. He is aware of the tension that his parents have been living with concerning the family’s uncertain status within Australia. At various stages, his school teachers has noticed that he has mirrored the anxiety of his parents’ situation and concerns about deportation. The younger boy is aged 6 years and was born here in Melbourne at Monash Hospital in Clayton. His was a premature birth. When the Ashburton-Glen Iris Asylum Seeker Group first started looking after the family, he was just three months old. He has now grown into a sturdy healthy boy. This younger boy is in first grade at the same primary school as his brother. He has had two years of kindergarten, in the local area. He is progressing well. Both boys are interested in sport and have taken a lively interest in the cricket.
Our family has no private means of financial support, having used up their savings early after their arrival in Australia. When their need for help became desperate, the family’s plight came to the attention of Hotham Mission. At that stage, they were living in Springvale. About six years ago, the Ashburton and Glen Iris Asylum Seekers’ Support Group was formed from five local churches. We raised money to support two asylum seeking families with their housing, living and medical expenses and this has been administered through Hotham Mission. Our Sri Lankan family was the first of these two families to receive support. The help we give allows them only a very basic level of existence. Since they have been with us, we have supported them in their move from Springvale firstly to a house closer to our churches and then to more appropriate housing within the Chisholm electorate.. Special donations from parishioners of our local churches have also allowed the younger boy to attend the local kindergarten, as well as raising the money for the older boy to attend school camps and swimming lessons. A continuing problem for us and our family is the lack of medical assistance and especially the lack of Medicare. With young children, there is an ongoing need for a family doctor. In addition, at various stages, both the parents have needed medical assistance for their own health problems. The wife has been hospitalized twice.
The parents would make excellent Australian citizens, keen to work and supportive of their family. They are anxious for their children to get a good education and to take advantage of all the opportunities that Australia affords. The wife joined the Mothers’ Club at the older boy’s first school – the local Catholic Primary School and has continued her active involvement in the School Canteen when he moved to the current primary school. Each day represents a challenge of how to get through financially and how to cope with the anxiety of lack of security for the future. They fear the local Support Group will be unable to maintain their commitment and feel demeaned by having to justify expenditure on certain living expenses such as gas and electricity. Any illness or break down of equipment within the home or special needs for the children represents unsettling dilemmas of where to seek financial help and the associated embarrassment.
The family first applied to the Tribunal for refugee status about seven years ago. They were unsuccessful. They fought this through the courts and their appeal against the Tribunal process was upheld at the end of 2006. The Federal Court found that they had not had a fair hearing, because the original interpreter was not properly qualified and also failed to interpret correctly what our family was saying in Singhalese.
The second Tribunal decision was handed to the family in April 2008. It denied the family refugee status.
The Tribunal Decision
The Tribunal’ decision is based on discrepancies in dates and lengths of time mentioned in the evidence given between the first two hearings, which were 7 years apart. Their story was the same each time and indeed as discussed in court. In addition, the Tribunal expressed doubt about whether the husband’s life would be in danger now after 9 years’ absence from his country. The family is seeking legal advice from their Legal Aid lawyer through RILCAttached to the bottom of their decision is the following statement:
Fee for Tribunal review
As the Tribunal has reviewed the delegate’s decision and you have not been determined to be a person to whom Australia has protection obligations, a fee of $1400 is payable in full to the Department. You must pay the fee within seven(7) calendar days of notification of the decision.
The Department referred to is The “Department of Immigration and Citizenship” (DIMA). The information sheet accompanying this says:
Please note:
What if the fee is not paid?
If the fee is not paid, you will owe a debt to the Commonwealth of Australia and you might be unable to obtain a visa in the future.
It is hard to imagine how a family who is dependent on our support for survival could be expected to find such money.
How has the Ashburton-Glen Iris Asylum Seeker Group and Local Churches helped the family?
For almost six years, parishioners from 5 local churches have supported the Sri Lankan family. We have done this by money donations to Hotham Mission to ensure that their everday expenses are covered. This has also been supplemented by involvement in the special fund raising events that have been hosted by St. Michael’s each year. Our Asylum Seeker Group also set up a group of contact people who would work with the family and report back to the local churches and the Group meetings.
In addition, there have also been many individual contributions to assist our family. These have included: