Petition to Australian Minister for Immigration: Don't deport Dr Abdi: father,
academic, and valued Australian
Again the Australian Immigration Department is discriminating against people
with disabilities as it treats us as bludgers and burdens on society,
regardless of whether we can work for wages or volunteer in our communities to
work to the betterment of all people.
The Immigration Department was supposed to be working on new assessment
procedure which took into account the positive contributions people with
disabilities could make to the Australian community as part of their
immigration assessment but again they have rejected Dr Abdi as a burden on
Australian society because of his disability.
I just signed the petition "Scott Morrison Minister for Immigration: Don't
deport Dr Abdi: father, academic, and valued Australian" and wanted to see if
you could help by adding your name.
Dear Minister Dutton, there is a lot to be proud of in this country. Among
those values we hold most sacred is the idea that this is a land of
opportunity, where a person is judged on their merits, and not their
circumstances.
Dr Abdi is a husband, a University lecturer, a community advocate, and an
example of the very best in what it means to be an Australian, should not be
deported merely because he is blind.
In the 47 years he has not had eye sight, he has been proud to manage in his
inspiring independence. In his 11 years as an Australian, he has fathered
wonderful children here with his wife. In his time as a teacher, he has passed
on the gift of knowledge. As a member of our Australian community he has
contributed to our society, and to the live he touches.
Dr Abdi has been an upstanding and outstanding member of the Australian
community. Through his work as a teacher and his work for migrant communities
and average Australians, has become an integral part of our society and someone
we should reward, not deport.
We ask the Honourable Minister to use his review authority to ensure that
talented, skilled, kind and productive member of our society is not forced to
leave.
We are better for having him.
From
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/08/18/blind-kenyan-father-ordered-leave-australia
"Doctor Siyat Abdi has joined a long line of migrants who’ve been rejected for
a visa because they failed to meet the health criteria. In Kenyan-born Dr
Abdi’s case, it’s because he’s blind.
For others, including Perth doctor Nora Aziz, it was because their children had
cancer or Down Syndrome.
But according to the Migration Act, an applicant must not, even hypothetically,
need health care or community service that would “result in a significant cost
to the Australian community in the areas of health care and community services
… regardless of whether the health care or community services will actually be
used.”
Dr Abdi, who has been in Australia for more than 11 years, said it made him
angry to be rejected because he was blind. It’s a condition he’s managed for
all of his 47 years.
“I felt so bitter about it particularly noticing that the focus is on my
disability and not my ability because I know I can do great things,” he said.
“I’ve been helping people, I’ve been doing a lot of things with the Australian
community including migrants, including the mainstream Australian society.
“I’ve been feeling part of the Australian society and here I am: I'm told that
I'm a burden to society. That really makes me so angry.”
Dr Abdi has two children born in Australia and several more in Kenya who he
said he had been supporting without relying on government handouts.
He has been a university lecturer and tutor in South Australia and now is an
advocate for ethnic people with disabilities in Perth.
He said the law dehumanised him.
“A professional person is still being discriminated in this century,” he said.
“It’s the 21st Century and I’m still being discriminated against in a developed
country.”
Dr Abdi had been given 28 days to leave the country." ...
Our goal is to reach 5,000 signatures and we need more support. You can read
more and sign the petition here:
http://tinyurl.com/px3bxll
Thanks!
FrankPosted by: "Frank Hall-Bentick" <fhallbentick@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
