Fifty people protested at short notice outside the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (MITA) in Broadmeadows on July 3 in support of Dixtan Arulruban, a Tamil refugee threatened with deportation to Sri Lanka.
The rally was organised by the Tamil Refugee Council and supported by the Refugee Action Collective Victoria.
Dixtan’s father was killed by the Sri Lankan military in 2009, along with tens of thousands of other Tamils.
Dixtan, then 13 years old, was put in an internment camp, along with his mother Reeta and his grandmother.
After their release, soldiers came to their house and sexually assaulted Reeta. She fled to Australia in 2012 and was given permanent protection.
Dixtan managed to reach Australia in 2019, after his grandmother died, but was put in detention. He has now been told he will be deported.
The rally demanded he be immediately freed from MITA and given a permanent visa.
