German Doctor Denied Residency Due to Down Syndrome Son
Posted by Amber Robinson at 11:15 AM on October 31, 2008
A migrant doctor and his family are being forced to leave Australia, despite a shortage of doctors in rural areas, because his son has Down syndrome.
Sound implausible? Dr Bernhard Moeller answered a call from the Federal Government , and moved from Germany to become the small Victorian town of Horsham to become the community’s only permanent specialist physician.
Moeller formed strong bonds in Horsham and applied for permanent residency. But the Department of Immigration and Citizenship this week rejected the application because his 13-year-old son, Lukas, has Down syndrome and does not fit the bureaucracy’s health criteria – he had been assessed as a burden on Australian taxpayers and could not be granted permanent residency.
Never mind the fact that many people with Down Syndrome lead independent lives and even have regular jobs. Or that Dr Moeller has a large enough salary as a doctor to take care of his son’s health needs. No, beautiful Lukas (pictured above) has been labeled a ‘burden’.
Ironically, Dr Moeller and his family searched for the best place to raise a family and his wife, Isabella, said Australia was the preferred choice because of the support it offered disabled children.
The Horsham locals are outraged at the prospect of losing their only internal medicine specialist and residents rallied outside Dr Moeller’s practice yesterday, demanding the decision be overturned. As well as his private practice, Dr Moeller fills a key role at the Wimmera Base Hospital, which serves 50,000 people in the region.
“We are desperate for doctors in the country and the Government says we must get skilled labour from overseas,” said Business Horsham’s Andrea Cross.
“The decision to reject residency is crazy. He has a disabled child but we’ve got great support for him here.”
Crazy indeed. Let’s hope sanity prevails and the case is appealed to the Migration Review Tribunal.
Dr Moeller should be allowed to stay in Australia with his family and his son who has downs syndrome. He is providing a valuable service to people in Horsham and only internal medical specialist. There has to be humanity and the doctor and his family are providing and taking of their son. They have also performed strongs with the community of Horsham.