Media release
Sri Lankan refugee Neil Para and his family have been granted permanent visas coinciding with completion of his marathon 1014-kilometre walk from Ballarat to Sydney at the weekend.
The inspirational trek through two states put the issue of 10,000 refugees living in limbo without permanent visas firmly on the Australian agenda.
Immigration Lawyer Carina Ford announced that Neil and his family had been granted permanent visas from Australian Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.
Neil completed his walk out of compassion for his friends. The walk began on August 1 and went through 30 Victorian towns and 42 towns/cities in NSW.
An emotional Neil Para said today: “I am glad and grateful. My family feels humbled. We hope all will be free one day. We promise that we will contribute to Australia. Refugees have a lot to give.
“We look forward to working not walking. My kids can follow their dreams.”
Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR) Ballarat convenor Margaret O’Donnell said: “RAR and the family’s other supporters from Ballarat are overjoyed that finally after more than a decade, they have permanent visas and can get on with their lives.”
The walk was a mammoth effort of coordination led by Melbourne Refugee Action Collective (RAC) and supported by Rural Australians for Refugees groups in both states and other refugee support groups including People Just Like Us. Everywhere Neil went people welcomed him, communities supported him and supporters and refugees travelled to walk with him.
When embarking on the walk, a Change.org petition seeking permanent visas had amassed about 11,000 signatures. The online and hard copy petition, which closes on Monday, is approaching 20,000.
Neil fled war-torn Sri Lanka and arrived in Australia in August 2012 seeking asylum, with his pregnant wife Sugaa and daughters Nivash and Kartie. Their third daughter Nive was born in Australia. The family was in Sydney to walk the final 6km with Neil.
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