Thursday, October 9, 2014

Somali family begs Immigration Minister to grant terminally ill man's last wish - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Somali family begs Immigration Minister to grant terminally ill man's last wish - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Abdi Yousef Elmi has survived the Somali civil war, more than a decade in a Kenyan refugee camp and Parkinson's disease.
He has now been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer and has almost lost the ability to speak.
His final wish is to be reunited with a son feared dead for almost two decades.
Mr Elmi and his wife, Fatuma Ahmed Ali, were raising four children in the Somalian port city Kismayo when civil war broke out in 1991.
The family fled as artillery shells and rebels attacked their neighbourhood, losing trace of two sons in the confusion.
Ms Ali said the shock of losing contact with Saacid and Abshir, both under 10 years-old at the time, consumed her mind and body.
"You are dreaming when you are asleep. You are 24 hours thinking, where are your children?
"Are they alive or are they dead?"
The couple and their remaining son and daughter eventually wound up in a refugee camp in neighbouring Kenya.
They spent the next 13 years in the camp before being granted entry to Australia in 2004.
Once they arrived in Australia, Ms Ali was finally able to start looking for her two missing sons.
Within a matter of months, the family discovered that Abshir had been living in Australia since 1997.
The family was reunited at Darwin airport on Christmas Eve, 2004.
"I couldn't believe it. They were all here," said Abshir Youself Eli.

Finding the missing piece

Jane Black and Joan Washington were working with the Red Cross helping refugees find their missing family members when they were put in contact with the Elmi family in 2006.
They took on the task of helping the family track down Saacid.

In 2007 the two women found a now fully grown man living in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya.
"I worked as a tracing worker for 10 years and in all of that time with all of those cases, I've never had a story like this," said Ms Washington.
Saacid quickly applied for a remaining relative visa to come to Australia.
He is now 32 years-old and has been trying to leave the Nairobi refugee camp for more than four years.
His father is unable to travel due to his multiple illnesses and has been given about four months to live.
"I ask to the government of Australia to bring my son [so we can] see each other before I die," he said.
The Elmi family said they have applied to the Department of Immigration to speed up Saacid's visa process.
They have also asked for a temporary protection visa (TPV) for Saacid so that he can visit Australia to see his father.
The family has so far been unsuccessful in their applications and are now calling on Immigration Minister Scott Morrison for special circumstance expediency.
"We need both of them to see each other until he pass away. That is a dream in the night," said Ms Ahmed Ali.
"[Abdi] say 'come help me'. Where is the Australian government?"

An 'exceptional' family situation

Ms Washington said the Elmi family's "exceptional" story of survival is something that deserves to be recognised by Australian immigration.
"This circumstance is quite exceptional and there are discretionary powers that [Mr Morrison] has," she said.
Ms Black and Ms Washington, who are now close friends with the family, last week set up an online campaign requesting requesting special circumstances.
The petition has so far received more than 13,000 signatures.
Ms Washington said the Elmi family were model citizens who described Australia as "the best place on earth".
"The family has been strong...they hit the ground running when they got [to Australia].
"They work hard. Their daughter runs her own business down in Melbourne.
"They’re an inspirational family given what they’ve been through and sometimes I think we have to sit back and give people a break."

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