I found safety here in Australia 10 years ago. But officials could take my son from me within weeks unless Immigration Minister Andrew Giles intervenes.

When the Sri Lankan government soldiers invaded our home, my son Dixtan was just a boy. I was a widow, and they had guns. There was no way he could protect me.

My husband was killed when government forces fired heavy artillery into a so-called ‘no fire zone’, where they told our family to shelter with hundreds of thousands of other Tamil civilians. After the massacre, government soldiers forced me into an internment camp with my mother and son. When we were released, soldiers invaded our home and sexually assaulted me.

As a Tamil woman, a widow and a survivor of rape, I was incredibly vulnerable. I was terrified I would be attacked again. My mother begged me to flee Sri Lanka any way I could.

When the chance to escape came, I had to act immediately. I didn’t even know my destination. I had to leave Dixtan in my elderly mother’s care, hoping we could reunite in a safe country.

I arrived in Australia in 2012, but it took officials four years to grant me refugee status. By that time, Dixtan was over eighteen and he was no longer considered a dependent child. To make matters worse, an unfair policy made it all but impossible for refugees who came by sea to reunite their families.

When my mother passed away in 2016, Dixtan was completely alone. The Sri Lankan security forces have never stopped harassing, abusing and torturing young Tamils and he was terrified for his own safety.

In 2019, Dixtan flew to Australia in the hope that immigration officials would recognise the danger he faces in Sri Lanka. But instead of offering protection, they locked him up in a detention centre and left him there for four years.

Under Australian law, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has the power to intervene, so Dixtan and I can stay together.

Minister Giles, please don’t let the officials force my son back into the hands of the government forces who killed my husband and attacked me in my own home. Let Dixtan stay here with me, where I know he’ll be safe.