Let's come together for Sutharsan

Sutharsan is a Tamil refugee living in a garage in Dandenong. He came to Australia fleeing the war in Sri Lanka. He has to pay $110 a week in rent and is facing eviction because he has lost his job due to the pandemic.

Sutharsan arrived in Australia in 2010. He was detained on Christmas Island and Northern Queensland for over two years. His protection claim was rejected based on inconsistencies in his story despite him being a war survivor. When he appealed the decision, Labour minister withdrew the matter. Soon after, he was released into the community on bridging visa without any work rights. In 2017 he was invited to apply for a Safe Haven Enterprise Visa. By this time he was granted short term bridging visa with work rights. Every time the bridging visa expired he had to resign from his job as he didn’t have valid visa and then re-apply for another job.

Today Sutharsan is waiting for the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to hear his appeal so that he can find safety and rebuild his life in Australia. In the meantime he is desperately looking for another place to live as the landlord has asked him to move out of the garage.

In an interview with Red Flag Newspaper, Sutharsan says, “The last four days I haven’t properly slept. I stand to become mentally unwell. I can’t look after my family in Jaffna [in the north of Sri Lanka]. I haven’t seen my daughter since she was seven months old. Now she is 11 years old. First, I need a job or a place to stay. I can’t even think clearly. I just don’t know what to do.”