Labor MP's 'disrespectful' remarks amid permanent residency calls - MASHAHER

This story contains references to suicide.

The death of Mano Yogalingam last week has sent shock waves through Australia’s refugee community.

The 23-year-old is the second asylum seeker to have died by suicide in the past month while awaiting a permanent residency determination.

His death has sparked a number of protests across the country this week, led by refugee advocates who are calling on the federal government to expedite a pathway to permanency for an estimated 8,500 asylum seekers still on temporary visas.

The deaths of two Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers last week have prompted debate about protection visas. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan

Among those protesting is a group of Perth-based Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, who have staged a sit-in protest and vigil outside federal Labor MP Sam Lim’s office in Willetton.

Lim holds the seat of Tangney, which spans south Perth and has a strong Sri Lankan Tamil population: Tamil is spoken by 1.2 per cent of the electorate, which is four times higher than the WA state average and three times the national average.

The protest at Willetton took a turn on Monday afternoon when and former police officer made an unscheduled appearance.

Around 20 protesters outside. Many are holding signs calling for permanent residency.

Support for the Perth encampment event is growing by the day. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan

In a tense exchange with protesters, Lim referred to Yogalingam’s death, saying: “If you can live for the last 12 years or 13 years in such a suffering state, why [do] you want to take your life?”

“Why? If you can sustain and live, you should have a strong energy to carry on … and you are under a good government,” Lim said.

Lead organiser of the protest Samuel Kugathas responded to the remarks, explaining asylum seekers who have waited more than a decade for permanency are running out of hope.

“They have no work rights, they have no study [rights], they have no Medicare,” he told Lim.

“So, if they have a medical sickness, where do they go? If they need money, there is no government support … they can’t rent a house.

You are asking, ‘Why are they committing suicide?’, but what other options do they have?

Kugathas is a Tamil refugee who, like Yogalingam, was displaced by civil war in Sri Lanka. He came to Australia by boat in 2009 along with his sister, his brother-in-law and their three children — all five of whom died in the process.

“I know the pain … the pain when you lose somebody,” Kugathas told SBS News.

“Enough is enough. We cannot lose one more life.”

A Federal Labor politician being addressed by a refugee crowd at a Perth encampment event.

Samuel Kugathas speaking to federal MP Sam Lim outside Lim’s office in Willetton, Perth. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan

Yogalingam is the 48th asylum seeker to have died awaiting a residency decision in the 12 years since the government introduced for asylum seekers arriving by boat.

Clare Francis is a refugee advocate who was also at the sit-in and described Lim’s remarks as “outrageous”.

“For a politician in the Labor government to come down here and say to these people: ‘I don’t know why you are upset, why you would possibly kill yourself’ shows a total lack of regard for what these people are going through,” she told SBS News.

Sam Lim’s comments labelled ‘deeply insensitive’

Earlier in the day, Lim also fielded questions at a press conference in Perth.

When asked about the sit-in outside his office, the Malaysian-born MP told SBS News: “I migrated to Australia through the proper way and I am very proud [of that]. I contributed a lot to Australia as a police officer and now a member of parliament.

“But I’ve got a lot of sympathy [for] all these refugees. When I was a police officer, I handled a lot of their issues unnecessarily. And this is all caused by the previous government.”

Greens spokesperson for immigration Senator David Shoebridge has called the comments “deeply insensitive”, saying they “unfortunately, reflect Albanese government policy”.

“What was said in the open this time is a look behind the curtain of how Labor thinks about these issues and how it views people seeking asylum,” Shoebridge told SBS News.

There is no right or wrong way to flee persecution. No one should be judged on what mode of transport they took to get to Australia.

Following the exchange outside Lim’s office on Monday, protesters told SBS News they were disappointed by the MP’s response.

A woman standing in front of people and a sign that reads Permanent visas for all refugees

Anushanthini Jesuthasan, 22, is one of the leading voices at the Perth sit-in protest. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan

“I honestly think it’s ignorance,” 22-year-old Anushanthini Jesuthasan said.

“There are still families who are still waiting, who still need their answers. How can we forget about the rest?

“[Given] the response we are getting from the government, I feel like our responsibility is to push them. It’s been 12 years, how much longer does it have to be?”

Thiwanika Lourthu Thasan, 13, who was also at the sit-in and came to Australia by boat when she was just 12 months old, described Lim’s comments as “really disrespectful”.

“People [should] take this seriously. He hasn’t really answered us or [given] us an answer, so we are really confused. That’s why we are doing this,” she said.

A teenage girl wearing a grey tracksuit poses in front of a sit-in protest

Thiwanika Lourthu Thasan was a baby when she arrived in Australia by boat with her family. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan

Despite the offhand remarks, Lim pledged to help those camped outside his electorate office who are on temporary visas.

He told SBS News he would present their cases to Immigration Minister Tony Burke when parliament resumes in Canberra next week and reiterated that the government is doing it all it can to help those seeking asylum.

“They came here in 2014, about 30,000 of them, and they got stuck for 10 years,” he said.

“When we took over as a government, we helped them. We approved 20,000 of them — from refugee visas to becoming a permanent resident. We have done our best.”

Refugees’ lives on hold

The protest outside Lim’s office comes amid mounting criticism of the government’s assessment process for asylum seekers on bridging visas, with similar protests staged outside MPs’ offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney this week.

Five Tamil Sri-Lankan women sitting and standing outside a government office protesting for change.

These men and women in Melbourne are rallying outside the Department of Home Affairs office calling for change. Source: Facebook / Refugee Women Action for Visa Equality

The conditions for a subclass 050 bridging visa, like the one Yogalingam was on, prohibit work, study and travel, and visa holders must report to the visa office weekly, not engage in criminal conduct or “be disruptive”.

Among those currently on a subclass 050 visa at the Perth sit-in is 17-year-old Anbu Arulselvam. He was just six when his family fled Sri Lanka by boat. They were detained on Christmas Island for three months before being relocated to Perth.

Arulselvam has been awaiting permanency for the last 11 years and holds a bridging visa that needs to be renewed every three months.

A family picture of a man and a woman and three children

Anbu Arulselvam (centre) was only six when his family fled Sri Lanka by boat 11 years ago. Source: Supplied / Anbu Arulselvam

The teenager has less than three weeks of high school left, after which his education will come to an end because of visa restrictions.

“They [his schoolmates] have a future, I don’t,” Arulselvam said.

“I feel very sad that others have already secured apprenticeships or enrolled at TAFE, while I’m unable to do the same. I have a Certificate II in engineering through school, but I can’t go on to study a Cert III or IV at TAFE.

I am not sure what the solution is … there is nothing I can do.

A high school student seeking asylum stands alongside his parents at a Perth protest event calling for refugee permanency in Australia.

With only a few weeks of high school left, Anbu Arulselvam says his future is uncertain. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan

Stephni Jesuthasan and her family are also among those on temporary visas at the Perth sit-in. She has a younger sister who was born in Australia, but she and the rest of her family are on bridging visas.

Like Arulselvam’s, her family fled Sri Lanka in 2013 to seek asylum in Australia and were placed in detention on Christmas Island. They were moved to offshore detention centres in Malaysia and Indonesia before being relocated to Adelaide, and now Perth.

“I grew up here [Australia] … this is the place I call home,” Jesuthasan told SBS News.

“But there is a sense of loss in belonging because we have not been able to get rid of our refugee label.

We have dreams that we want to pursue, but there is little hope in being able to pursue those dreams here.

Sri Lankan nationals make up 31 per cent of people on bridging visas in Australia — the largest group — followed by those from Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Syria.

Jesuthasan says returning to Sri Lanka is not an option: her relatives have all been killed.

A man and a woman stand outside holding a sign in pleading for the federal government to grant them permanency in Australia after more than a decade on a visa.

Stephni Jesuthasan, now 20, says she has dreams she hopes to achieve one day in Australia. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan

“We were constantly faced with questioning and threats at home … it was unsafe for us to stay there,” she said.

“Dad was taken away at times, where he was blinded and tied up and hurt.”

A report released by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) last week details ongoing unrest and human rights violations in Sri Lanka.

It found that, between January 2023 and March 2024, more than 1,340 people were subject to arbitrary arrest and detention, 26 people died in state custody and 21 were victims of extrajudicial killings.

Growing calls for a pathway to permanency

Under the government’s 2024-25 Humanitarian Program, 20,000 places have been allocated to permanently resettle refugees.

But in the wake of Yogalingam’s death, there is mounting pressure on the government to support the 8,500 people who were rejected by the program because of the so-called “fast track process”.

It applies specifically to people seeking asylum who arrived in Australia by boat after August 2012 and limits their ability to reapply for a protection visa if refused in the first instance.

The process was introduced by the former Coalition government under Tony Abbott in 2014 as part of its Operation Sovereign Borders strategy, which included a no-resettlement policy for boat arrivals — a policy broadly supported by both major political parties.

Refugees protesting at a Perth encampment event holding up a sign that reads Don't deport to danger Refugees welcome

Sri Lankan nationals make up 31 per cent of people on bridging visas living in Australia, the largest group. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan

Independent human rights organisation the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) has criticised the process, saying it’s based on decisions that are “unfair and legally incorrect” and has forced genuine refugees to return to regions where they face serious harm and persecution.

“It’s promising to see some Labor MPs acknowledge the failures of the fast track process and the impact of 12 years of limbo in recent days,” ASRC’s head of systemic change Jana Favero said.

“But after 12 years of family separation and fear of deportation and being deprived access to social supports, words are not enough when urgent action is required.”

Criticisms of the fast track process have been echoed by Refugee Council of Australia CEO Paul Power in a letter to Tony Burke this week, in which he stressed the “urgent need” to grant permanent protection status to the 8,500 asylum seekers still in residency limbo.

“People affected by this policy have been in Australia for so long that they have put down deep roots,” he wrote.

“They are contributing through employment in construction, hospitality, transport services, landscaping, and manufacturing, and are valued members of their local communities.

“A timely reassessment of the protection needs of those rejected through the fast track process would be the most constructive response to the current situation for all those who have lived for years without certainty.”

People outside an office. There are signs calling for permanent residency

A woman refugee braving the elements with her children to protest outside Lim’s office in Perth. Source: SBS News / Christopher Tan

Along with Power, 25 crossbench MPs have written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, urging the government to create a permanent pathway for people like Arulselvam and Jesuthasan.

Back in Perth, Kugathas and other protesters are continuing the sit-in. He says he hopes there will be real change.

“Within political parties … each party is throwing us [around] like a ball,” he said.

“But please, listen to these stories. We are hardworking people. We have no place to go.

“We have no home, and this is our country.”

Readers seeking crisis support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged up to 25). More information and support with mental health is available at and on 1300 22 4636.

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