A 10-year-old autistic Filipino boy made an emotional plea yesterday for permission to stay in Australia, as tens of thousands called for him not to be deported despite the potential medical cost of his condition.
Tyrone Sevilla, who arrived in Australia from the Philippines legally as a two-year-old with his mother, Maria Sevilla, has written to Australian Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton asking to stay.
The letter, which reads: “Dear Mr Dutton, can I stay in Australia please... Tyrone,” was the first one her son had written and probably the most important he would ever write, Maria Sevilla said.
“With our help, he managed to sit down and write all those letters on the page. For him to sit down and do that, it is a different Tyrone,” she told reporters.
Maria Sevilla said the letter showed that her son, who does not normally communicate by speaking, understood the family’s situation after they were denied visas due to the probable cost of providing for Tyrone’s care.
Maria Sevilla, a registered nurse who works in a Queensland hospital and who has been in Australia since 2007 on a variety of visas, said she and her son had been denied permission to stay longer because they were labeled a “burden” to Australian taxpayers.
The Sevillas presented a petition signed by more than 120,000 people to Dutton’s electoral office in Brisbane in the hope that the minister would give compassionate consideration to their cause.
“Today is make-or-break; whatever we do today will help with our case,” Maria Sevilla said.
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
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