Friends, even as millions of Australians do their bit to beat this virus, I know you haven’t forgotten about Priya, Nades and the girls.
Like most of us, Priya and Nades just want to work hard and raise their family in peace and safety.
But when Minister Hawke granted three month visas to everyone in the family but four-year-old Tharni, he stopped this Queensland family from coming home to Biloela.
Experienced human rights lawyers say they’ve never heard of one child in a family being denied a visa in this way.
And with the way certain politicians keep denying the well-known danger for Tamil people forced to Sri Lanka, I know this family won’t be safe until their bags touch the ground in Biloela, where they are welcome, wanted and needed.
The article is titled All this family wants is a peaceful life. It was written by Bruce Haigh, who served as an Australian diplomat for 23 years. He was the Australian Deputy High Commissioner in Sri Lanka in 1994 before spending five years as a member of the Refugee Review Tribunal.
As Mr Haigh explains, a British tribunal with the same status as the UK High Court has dismissed a flawed report Australian officials are using to deny the dangers faced by Tamil people like Priya, Nades and the girls.
Australian courts have long been separate from the British system and have no power to assess the facts in refugee cases. But politicians like Minister Hawke have always had the power to bring Priya, Nades and the girls home to Biloela with the stroke of a pen.
I also wanted you to know that a couple of weekends ago, Biloela came together for our first ever “Flourish” festival, sharing music, dance and food from around the world.
I was still in Perth with Priya, Nades and the girls when the festival happened, but I was so proud to see Biloela in the news for a different reason.
Just imagine how excited Kopi and Tharni would have been to see all the colourful costumes. I know Priya and Nades would have loved to be able to pitch in and help too.
It reminded me that in a town like Bilo, it’s not what you look like, where you came from or how you got here that matters - it’s what you do once you’re here.
Thank you so much for reading and sharing Bruce Haigh's important article, along with everything else you are doing to help bring this family safely #hometobilo.
With hope,
Angela
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