by Cam Lucadou-Wells
Friends and supporters are grieving the “heart-breaking” death of a 23-year-old Dandenong asylum seeker said to have lost hope after more than a decade without permanent visa protection.
Mano Yogalingham died in hospital on Wednesday 28 August after self-harming in a car near Noble Park Skate Park.
He stood vigil at a 24/7 camp outside the Department of Home Affairs office in Docklands, coordinating the protest as well as staying up through the night to protect colleagues from assaults and thefts.
Asylum seeker Rathy Barthlot, who met Yogalingham at the camp, says he was a “very strong, energetic … a lovely young boy” as well as “humble”.
“He’s not scared about anyone else. When we were in the camp, he was not sleeping during the night and looking after us.
“He’d say ‘you go to sleep, I’ll look after you guys’.
“We’re very shocked. His family is very shocked. Everyone is very heart-broken.”
Barthlot says Yogalingham had been “worried about his living conditions, living like a jailed person”.
“Since he was 11 years old he’s been a refugee living in a limbo life.
“The Government needs to consider our situation, our mental issues and suffering. Who is going to listen to us?
“Please grant us permanent visas. Let us live with some dignity and have the same rights as everyone else.”
Yogalingham fled from Sri Lanka by boat as an 11-year-old with his parents and four siblings.
The Tamil family had their claim for protection rejected under Australia’s ‘Fast Track’ system.
For more than half his life, Australia had been his home but he’d been “treated like a second-class citizen”, says Tamil Refugee Council founder Aran Mylvaganam.
Yogalingham had many friends and family but was believed to have issues with an ex-partner at the time.
His visa “limbo” is believed to have plagued his mental health, Mylvaganam says.
Yogalingham’s “heart-breaking” demise was the third Tamil refugee known to self-immolate in the past 12 years.
“When you look at all of them, they were very community minded, they were loved and really strong people.”
It followed another Dandenong Tamil’s premature death from unknown causes a month ago, Mylvaganam says.
“We’ve been living with this issue for many issues – one death after another. If the Government resolved everyone’s situation we wouldn’t see these deaths.
“It’s the uncertainty – you can’t get a decent job. As soon as it’s found out that you’re on a bridging visa, it comes to an end.
“Without permanent residency they go through hell.”
There was later word of a Doveton Tamil in his 40’s dying prematurely on Friday 30 August. Tamil community members were fundraising to send his body to relatives in Sri Lanka.
There are an estimated 9,000-plus asylum seekers denied a pathway to permanent residency.
Many are awaiting review from the Immigration Minister as well as the new Administrative Review Tribunal.
According to Mylvaganam, that’s now 9000 lives that must be saved.
“My view is this is not just the Liberals’ cruel policy but Labor is using these refugees as political tools.
“The numbers of people dying in the community stopped when Labor came to power. But now I feel hopelessness is setting in.
“I hope we can turn the mourning into a form of resistance, rather than giving up.”
Justice and Freedom for Ceylon Tamils president Wicki Wickiramasingham, who is an ALP member, says there is mounting desperation for those in limbo before next year’s federal election.
And a sense of betrayal.
“The people trusted to save their lives have let them down.
“If the Government still has done nothing by December this year, we fear nothing might happen.”
Bruce MP Julian Hill, who is Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, said Yogalingham’s death was an “utterly horrific and tragic incident”.
“Any Australian – indeed any decent human being – would feel appalled that a person could get to the point in their mental health that this seems like not just an option, but a thing to do.
“My thoughts are with this man’s family, friends, first responders and anyone else affected.”
Hill said the department had not briefed him in detail on Yogalingham’s circumstances.
“Many asylum seekers in my community were stuck in limbo for the best part of a decade, never able to leave as genuine refugees, but never able to confirm and build their life here or, in many cases, see their children and grandchildren.”
He said the election pledge of permanent protection for people with TPV and SHEV visas had been implemented.
“Almost 18,000 of the 19,000 Temporary Protection Visa holders in limbo for a decade under the Liberals have now been granted permanent visas and many others from the Bridging Visa caseload are now also now able to apply for permanent protection.
“The legacy of the remaining caseload is complex, and every case is different and needs to be worked through individually.”
The majority of those remaining are 7376 who have had their visas refused, cancelled or expired. Many of them are seeking a review.
A further 2475 had been denied visas but had not yet sought a review.
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