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Hi Everybody, Again the Australian Immigration Department is discriminating against people with disabilities as it treats us as bludgers and burdens on society, regardless of whether we can work for wages or volunteer in our communities to work to the betterment of all people. The Immigration Department was supposed to be working on new assessment procedure which took into account the positive contributions people with disabilities could make to the Australian community as part of their immigration assessment but again they have rejected Dr Abdi as a burden on Australian society because of his disability. I just signed the petition "Scott Morrison Minister for Immigration: Don't deport Dr Abdi: father, academic, and valued Australian" and wanted to see if you could help by adding your name. Dear Minister Dutton, there is a lot to be proud of in this country. Among those values we hold most sacred is the idea that this is a land of opportunity, where a person is judged on their merits, and not their circumstances. Dr Abdi is a husband, a University lecturer, a community advocate, and an example of the very best in what it means to be an Australian, should not be deported merely because he is blind. In the 47 years he has not had eye sight, he has been proud to manage in his inspiring independence. In his 11 years as an Australian, he has fathered wonderful children here with his wife. In his time as a teacher, he has passed on the gift of knowledge. As a member of our Australian community he has contributed to our society, and to the live he touches. Dr Abdi has been an upstanding and outstanding member of the Australian community. Through his work as a teacher and his work for migrant communities and average Australians, has become an integral part of our society and someone we should reward, not deport. We ask the Honourable Minister to use his review authority to ensure that talented, skilled, kind and productive member of our society is not forced to leave. We are better for having him. From http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/08/18/blind-kenyan-father-ordered-le ave-australia "Doctor Siyat Abdi has joined a long line of migrants who've been rejected for a visa because they failed to meet the health criteria. In Kenyan-born Dr Abdi's case, it's because he's blind. For others, including Perth doctor Nora Aziz, it was because their children had cancer or Down Syndrome. But according to the Migration Act, an applicant must not, even hypothetically, need health care or community service that would "result in a significant cost to the Australian community in the areas of health care and community services . regardless of whether the health care or community services will actually be used." Dr Abdi, who has been in Australia for more than 11 years, said it made him angry to be rejected because he was blind. It's a condition he's managed for all of his 47 years. "I felt so bitter about it particularly noticing that the focus is on my disability and not my ability because I know I can do great things," he said. "I've been helping people, I've been doing a lot of things with the Australian community including migrants, including the mainstream Australian society. "I've been feeling part of the Australian society and here I am: I'm told that I'm a burden to society. That really makes me so angry." Dr Abdi has two children born in Australia and several more in Kenya who he said he had been supporting without relying on government handouts. He has been a university lecturer and tutor in South Australia and now is an advocate for ethnic people with disabilities in Perth. He said the law dehumanised him. "A professional person is still being discriminated in this century," he said. "It's the 21st Century and I'm still being discriminated against in a developed country." Dr Abdi had been given 28 days to leave the country." ... Our goal is to reach 5,000 signatures and we need more support. You can read more and sign the petition here: http://tinyurl.com/px3bxll Thanks! Frank ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.