Dedicated: Neil Para crosses the Benalla-Monash bridge with Rural Australians for Refugees member Des Moylan on August 11.
Photo by
Simon Ruppert
Ballarat’s Neil Para passed through Benalla on August 11 nearly one third of the way through a 1000km walk to deliver a petition to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
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The petition is asking for permanent visas for the thousands of refugees who Mr Para said are Australian in every way - just not officially.
He said he came up with the idea for a walk after taking part in a sit down rally in Canberra that he found to be ineffective.
“I felt like we were seen, but not heard,” Mr Para said.
“So I sent emails to various groups asking for help.”
Those included Rural Australians for Refugees, Mums for Refugees, Refugee Action Collective.
After some deliberating, and lots of meetings, Mr Para decided to do the walk from Ballarat to Sydney to deliver a petition directly to the Prime Minister’s electoral office with the help of those groups along the way.
While he is unsure if Mr Albanese will be there when he arrives he hopes the petition, and media coverage along the way, will have a positive effect.
“I would like to achieve three things,” he said.
“Firstly, I think all people born to refugees in Australia need to be given citizenship.
“All refugees who went to school in Australia have to be given citizenship, or at least a pathway to citizenship.
“And finally in February it was announced that some temporary protection visa holders would be given permanent residency, but that did not apply to everyone who holds one.”
On a mission: Neil Para met with Benalla Mayor Bernie Hearn and gave her a copy of his book 'Smiles for Masks' whilst he was in the Rose City.
Photo by
Contributed
That announcement was from the Federal Government, which confirmed that 19,000 people on temporary visas would be allowed to apply for permanent visas with a pathway to citizenship and family reunion for those who left their family overseas.
However, this only applied to refugees who came to the country before the start of the border protection operation in late 2013 and, on top of other heavy requirements, it has left thousands more ineligible to apply.
Mr Para and his family members are among them.
They have lived in Australia for 11 years after fleeing Sri Lanka for religious persecution.
For their entire time in the country they have been without a permanent visa, and as a result, without a steady job or continuous Medicare cover.
In that time, they’ve survived off the generosity of community groups and friends.
In giving back, Mr Para, his wife Sugaa and three children are regular volunteers within the Ballarat community.
Mr Para is an active volunteer with SES and Sugaa volunteers in aged care.
He said all the people he is fighting for deserve to be recognised as permanent citizens.
“Many of these people are working hard and paying taxes,” he said.
“Some are running small businesses but are unable to get help from the banks.
“And people in my position are not even given the opportunity to work and pay taxes.”
Following conversations with those he has met on his travels, Mr Para said it was clear the issue went beyond him, and his family.
“A lot of people have come to me saying we thought the government would do something for us after the announcement, but they haven’t,” he said.
“It’s divided the people — some are getting visas, others aren’t.
“My daughter was born in Australia and was given citizenship when she turned 10 but she doesn’t feel Australian because her family is still stuck in limbo.”
Despite efforts they have been rejected for citizenship and they are not the only ones.
To help give a voice to people like Neil Para and his family, visit change.org/walkforfreedom and sign the petition asking for permanent residency for thousands of refugees.
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