Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John has slammed an Immigration Department decision to deport a deaf teenager from Australia because of potential costs for the taxpayer, as students prepare to rally in support of the Bhutanese family.
Kinley Wangyel Wangchuk, 18, and his family who have lived and worked in Australia since 2012 are set to be deported within weeks after their application for permanent residency in Australia was rejected on medical grounds.
The family has appealed to the Minister for Immigration David Coleman to intervene, claiming Kinley will face a "world of isolation" due to his disability if forced to return to Bhutan.
Senator Steele-John told SBS News he had called Minister for Immigration David Coleman, but Mr Coleman had refused to speak to him.
The Wangchuck family moved to Australia in 2012, living in Melbourne before settling in Queanbeyan. Source: Facebook
"I said this was a case of discrimination on the basis of somebodies disability, threatening to tear a family apart and condemn a disabled man to a life where he cannot access the supports that he needs, he needed to immediately intervene in this case," he said, referencing a conversation with Mr Coleman's Chief of Staff.
"This is ableism in its purest and vilest form."
Under its public interest criteria, The Migration Regulations 1994 dictates that an applicant for permanent residency must be "free from a disease or condition in relation to which a person who has it would be likely to require health care or community services".
A spokesperson from the Department of Home Affairs told SBS News they do not comment on individual cases, but said: "the health requirement is not condition-specific and the assessment is undertaken individually for each applicant based on their condition and level of severity".
Greens senator Jordon Steele-John has slammed an Immigration Department decision not to grant permanent residency to the Custodio family Source: AAP
"It is an objective assessment to determine whether the care of the individual during their stay in Australia would likely result in significant costs to the Australian community or prejudice the access of Australian citizens and permanent residents to services in short supply."
Senator Steele-John said this section of the law needed to come under urgent review.
"This thought process is based on the idea that disabled people are burdens to the Australian economy and Australian society. Not only is that deeply ableist, deeply discriminatory but in the era of the NDIS it is something that is totally out of line with the rest of our social service policy.
Kinley and his brother Tenzin are both in Year 11 at a Queanbeyan high school, near Canberra, where Kinley has learned to communicate using Australian sign language (AUSLAN).
The 18-year-old's former teacher said he will face "life-long severe social isolation and extreme disadvantage" in Bhutan, where deafness is misunderstood and people do not use AUSLAN.
Kinley and his family are expected to join up to 200 people to rally outside Parliament House on Friday, where his father Tshering is understood to be giving a speech.
A Bhutanese family are facing deportation after their hearing impaired son did not satisfy the medical criteria for permanent residency. Source: Change.org
The organiser of the rally, national disabilities officer at the National Union of Students (NUS) Will Edwards told SBS News that he wanted to put pressure on Mr Coleman to use his discretionary powers.
Earlier on Friday morning, Prime Minister Scott Morrison officially announced the royal commission into the abuse of Disabled Australians would go ahead after he allocated more than $500 million to the inquiry in Tuesday night's budget.
The Minister of Immigration declined to respond to Senator Steele-John's statements as he is unable to comment on individual cases.
