The Protection Visa

The Protection Visa 

By Paul McCann

Komer Newman arrived in Australia on a tourist visa and like many others he was having a great time seeing the sights and enjoying the freedom of being on a holiday in the summer months .  He was fortunate to  find some work that paid cash in the hand doing odd jobs , in cafes washing dishes and working in rural areas on farms picking fruit . He was making some new friends and liked the new way of life he had discovered . When his tourist visa was almost expired, he didn’t like the thought of having to return back home to where he came from and so started to consider staying and not returning . Komer understand why he should have to leave because he liked the new life he had and was having such a good time , after all he was in control of his life now . So, with his decision to overstay his visa in Australia he never considered any of the consequences involved  . The thoughts of going back to his country with no possibility of getting a job and having to live in chaos with over crowded streets and a rising crime  was too stressful for him to think about .

Komer never really considered any other option that might have been available for him like protection visas or study visas , Without the knowledge on hand his only option was to overstay his tourist visa and become  an unlawful non-citizen in

Australia  . The problems that he was facing was being caught by immigration and then detention , deportation, and a ban on re-entering Australia .

Plus, all the shame of confronting his family because he made up stories who he told thought he was oud of him because he had told them stories of being offered steady work in Australia from an employer who was going to sponsor him to become a permanent resident . Now in the eyes of his family he was like a hero to them making a new life for himself and regularly sending back money to help them .

Komer made up excuses for his decision to remain as an illegal resident in Australia and put aside all the issues of the course of action he took to remain in Australia after his tourist visa had expired .

So he left the farm where he was working in rural New South Wales and made his way to Sydney where he found a cheap boarding house near the beach and using a fictitious name he started a new job in a karaoke bar in the city , where he served drinks and food to clients every night . He was getting paid cash and happy saving lots of money some of which he was sending home to his family who were all unaware of the truth of what was going on in Australia .

Komer frequently was sending photos of him enjoying his new life in Australia . They were even jealous of his life that reflected a comfortable lifestyle that they could only dream of meanwhile everyday Komer was living in fear of being arrested by immigration . The fear that was consuming him never left and he was losing sight of the good things that surrounded him like the happy smiles of those enjoying nights out and the pretty girls faces , the beauty of flowers in bloom and now the colours of life that he had been enjoying were disappearing because of the fear of being caught and deported .  

One night in the karaoke bar a fight broke out and when Komer tried to break it up he had become a victim of a knife attack and needed to be brought by an ambulance to hospital . Now he was regretting the decision he had made to overstay his tourist visa , He couldn’t show his real identification as he would come up as an illegal resident and he would be deported so he refused to go to hospital and left the karaoke bar bleeding from the wound . He walked the streets for a while not knowing where to go and what to do , He sat in the back-alley way of some shops where he met a drug dealer who was selling narcotics to some clients . They confronted  Komer who poised no threat to them and saw he was in need of help .

After some questioning Komer told them his story and the drug dealer who was involved with a gang took advantage of that situation and took him into the gangs headquarters in the city where they invited him to become a gang member . Komer really had no other option and joined their gang  . After they treated his wound , he was in their debt and once he had recovered, he was now their property and started to work for them .  Komer was no longer living a free life , doing what he wanted as new he was being controlled by the gang and there was nothing he could do to escape their hold on him . He started to do drug deliveries and collect money from business men who were threatened by the gang . He was up to his neck in extorsion and criminal activity . No longer was he able to do the things he used to . The gang were in control of his life .

He wanted to run and try to escape their clutches on him but he had no where to run and no one to run to . Some days he just wanted to end it all .

One afternoon after picking up a shipment of narcotics he was on his way back to headquarters when he saw a lady standing in front of her car in a busy city street , She looked very stressed and cars were tooting their horns trying to get around her car that had stopped . There was still a goodness in Komer that made him stop to help her and there on that busy city street he changed her flat tyre .

The lady was overcome with his kind offer to help . In gratitude she invited him to her home for dinner that evening .

Komer was shocked and saw a glimpse of a miracle in his life . It was almost a chance of a lifetime for him , A ghost of a chance but still a chance , that he might find a way to escape the clutches of gang . If he accepted the invitation to dinner maybe , he could share his story and just maybe she would listen and somehow if a miracle could happen,  he could find a way to escape from the gang .

He accepted the dinner invitation and wondered what she would do if he told her about his life . She would either help him or not but he had nothing to lose .So he  hoped and prayed that this kind woman was the miracle he needed  . Before she drove off, she gave Komer her address and contact number . Komer made his way back to the gangs headquarters with the shipment and was given another job to collect some protection money from the owners of a few inner city restaurants that were in the grips of the gang but instead of going there he went to have dinner with the lovely lady he had met earlier on that day .

It was a chance in a million but one worth talking . It seemed the right time and the right place to turn his life around . Before going for dinner, he stopped at the cathedral and lit some candles and prayed for a miracle to bright back the light into his life and then walked away in blind faith , trusting his inner feelings that his footsteps were going in the right direction  .

Recent days had been so dark and he could no longer see any goodness in life . Komer had nothing to hope for until now .

Now and then things happen for the right reason and as he made his way to that dinner, he felt it was a moment in time he was ready embrace .

He had met someone out of the blue . A woman he never knew but she trusted him and somehow his act of kindness might help him bring a change in his life.

When he arrived at the large house for dinner , he was surprised that there was a large group of friendly people who were already there . The kind lady of the house introduced him to everyone present .

As they all sat down at table , people began talking of their recent trips to France and others spoke of their new adventures .

When they asked Komer to share his story he froze and clamed up but after some  encouragement he began to speak , it was almost like the words were given to him the story just flowed from his mouth . Everyone there listened with attention to every word he said .

They all paid attention to every detail and when he finished someone stood up and said .

I work in migration law and every day I try to help people get an opportunity to better their lives by providing information about becoming a resident or a citizen in Australia and the things you have just said are ringing alarm bells in my head . However, I can see a goodness in you that shines and if you would let me try to help you, I will do anything I can for you , “

Everyone at the table applauded what he had said .

The hostess stood up and said ,

“I work as a police office and part of team who are trying to infiltrate the gangs who are importing and supplying narcotics on the streets of our City and if you agree to work with us we will do everything we can to protect you  in return for any information   you can give us about all the those the gang are dealing with in importing narcotics into this country “

Another woman stood you and spoke of her role as a judge and how she could see that justice could be brought into Komer’s situation if he would allow her to get involved with the all the ongoing process with the police and immigration .

Komer was in tears and everyone present could see how a good man ended up on the doorsteps of hell without no recourse for help to leave .

Yes, it was a miracle that had happened with a flat tyre of a car on a very busy street in a city where no one wanted to help except Komer and now at that dinner table Komer found help in a situation where no one else wanted to help ,

There was a justice in all that and luckily for Komer and everyone involved ,help was on its way  Komer returned to the gang to find out everything he could about the organization and shared that with the police who started to round up all the gang leaders in Australia and their connections overseas .

Komer was granted a protection visa on the grounds of criminals in his country who were now contracted to kill him on his return to that place .

He was eventually given a permanent residency by immigration and never returned .there again , His family all applied for tourists visas and w2ere reunited with Komer and later some of them  applied for study visas in Australia and were approved by immigration to pursue new careers in IT and nursing .

Komer was a hero to them and all of them started a new life in Australia .

The End