Ballarat family hopes the federal government will create a brighter future for refugees

A refugee family in Ballarat hopes the Albanese government will grant them visas so they can finally start living normal lives.

Neil Para and his wife Sugaa hope to be granted visas by the Albanese government. Photo: Supplied

A Tamil family living on the generosity of the Ballarat community for more than eight years hopes the new federal government will end their suffering and signal a brighter future for refugees and others seeking asylum in Australia.

Neelavannan Paramanathan – or Neil Para as he is known locally – his wife Suganthini (Sugaa) Neelavannan and their daughters escaped religious and racial discrimination when they came to Australia from Sri Lanka in 2012.

From Christmas Island to months of living in detention in Darwin – where their youngest daughter was born – they were transferred to Dandenong before getting bridging visas and moving to Ballarat.

In February of 2014, the family was stripped of their visas for no apparent reason and along with it the ability to support themselves.

It was a huge blow to the couple, who are desperate to work, pay taxes and give back to the country and community they love so much.

It has meant the family’s future has been uncertain for more than eight years, with this instability taking an immense mental toll.

It is through multiple volunteer roles that they have learned English.

Mr Para has been a volunteer at the State Emergency Service for more than six years and has helped at working bees, volunteered at his children’s school and organised community events.

Mrs Para volunteers at an aged care facility, has donated her hair for wigs for people with cancer, fashioned quilts and cooked meals for the homeless.

The family has tried every possible avenue to apply for another bridging visa to no avail.

Neil Para and his wife Sugaa hope to be granted visas by the Albanese government. Photo: Supplied

After the last failed attempt in 2019, a lawyer told the Paras they should share the truth of their situation with their children.

It led the young girls – Nivash, Kartie and Nive – to pen letters to then Prime Minister Scott Morrison, pleading for their family to be granted visas and citizenship.

He replied that he hoped the children’s dreams – including eldest daughter Nivash’s long-held dream to become an interventional cardiologist at Ballarat Base Hospital – would come true.

But the family received no answers or ministerial intervention during Mr Morrison’s tenure.

Attempting to obtain protection in Australia has been an exceptionally challenging and stressful process for the Paras.

Though they now feel some hope their family’s future will be secure in Australia after the Labor government, led by Anthony Albanese, was sworn in this week.

“When we realised the Labor party was winning [the election] we cried. Sugaa and I hugged each other and cried,” Mr Para told Leader.

Nivash, 14, Kartie, 11 and Nive, nine, are just like other girls their age. They love to read, play sports, dance, get creative and explore – and they all receive excellent grades at school.

But their parents fear the lives they know could be ripped away at any moment.

“The children are growing everyday and we are scared for their futures,” they said.

“It is a very difficult situation. It is very frustrating waiting and waiting without knowing a decision or [getting] an answer from the government.”

Mr Para said the years his family had been forced to live without working rights or subsidised medical care was “cruel” while the legal processes were “confusing”.

Neil Para hopes the newly elected federal government will secure his family’s future in Australia. Photo: Supplied

Recent news the Murugappan family had been freed from detention and would be able to return to the Queensland town of Biloela was welcome, though they to have not received permanent visas.

“It is a relief for them and a positive step,” Mr Para added, but he said they were only granted a bridging visa.

“That is not a permanent solution for them to stay in Australia. They should be given some sort of permanent visas otherwise the future is not in our hands.”

Without permanent visas he said the fear of deportation would live on.

He called on the country to lobby for migration policies to be changed in line with the views held by Australians in 2022.

While the war in their home country is over, the family fear they will be persecuted if they return.

“We need stability and opportunity. I need the hope to plan for my family’s future rather than relying on other hands,” Mr Para said.

“I think this is a really considerate and compassionate government but they have to prove it and make favourable decisions for all refugees and asylum seekers.

“I hope we will all have certainty with this new government.”

He said being able to financially support his family would mean “a lot”.

“I haven’t worked for 10 years, since I came to Australia, and I would just like to work – whatever it is,” he said.

Mr Para would like to join the police force while Mrs Para would become an aged carer.

They said they would continue volunteering to give back to the community that has both financially and emotionally supported them.

Ballarat MP Catherine King has written several letters of support for the family and will write another to the new Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.

The minister’s office has been contacted for comment.