‘It just breaks our hearts’: co-workers rally for Queanbeyan family
‘It just breaks our hearts’: co-workers rally for Queanbeyan family
Childcare workers, aged-care nurses and residents who know and love Queanbeyan’s Wangchuk family joined a rally outside Parliament House on Friday to protest the family’s threatened deportation and condemn immigration laws which treated people with disabilities as a “burden” on society
Chanting “say it loud and say it clear, Kinley’s family’s welcome here” and “immigrants are welcome, racists are not the rally called on Immigration Minister David Coleman to use his ministerial discretion to allow the Bhutanese family to stay in Australia The family’s visa is due to expire next week after their application for permanent residency was rejected because their son Kinley, who is deaf, did not meet the health requirements set out by immigration laws.
The requirement assesses whether someone’s condition is likely to result in significant costs to the Australian community or prejudice the access of Australian citizens and permanent residents to services in short supply The Wangchuk family, who have lived in Australia since 2012, will be deported back to Bhutan without intervention by the minister. A petition calling for them to stay in Australia has been signed by more than 30,000 people.