Crowdfunding will get Samy home for funeral

A CROWDFUNDING effort has successfully raised the $15,000 needed to send the body of a Geelong-based Tamil refugee back to Sri Lanka to be buried.

Samy came to Australia as a refugee 10 years ago, and died suddenly of a heart attack on November 20.

At the time of his death, Samy had been waiting for a visa that would allow his wife and daughter, who are still in Sri Lanka, to join him in Australia.

Fellow Tamil refugee Nithi Kanakarathinam, who now lives in Swan Bay, started the GoFundMe page the day after Samy’s death.

“He came to Australia 10 years ago to seek refuge from persecution,” Mr Kanakarathinam wrote.

“He had hoped to be granted a protection visa and eventually bring his wife and daughter to safety.

“But Samy waited 10 years without being granted the visa he needed.

“He worked hard to support his family back home and tried to keep their hopes alive for a future of peace and safety together.

“Now those hopes have been lost forever and Samy’s grieving wife has expressed her wish to have her husband’s body returned to their village in Sri Lanka for burial.”

With support from organisations including the Uniting Queenscliff Church and the Cloverdale Community Centre in Corio, news of the fundraiser spread far and wide, with Mr Kanakarathinam stopping donations to the GoFundMe page at $16,338 on November 26.

Excess funds will be sent to Samy’s family in Sri Lanka.