End discrimination and help Juliana stay in New Zealand with her family #letherstay

End discrimination and help Juliana stay in New Zealand with her family #letherstay

Started
1 October 2019
Petition to
House of Representatives (NZ Parliament)
Signatures: 34,865Next goal: 35,000
Support now

Why this petition matters

Started by Juliana Carvalho

After the Ministerial Decision, Juliana has been granted residency and can live in NZ. We won the battle, but not the war, as it was an exception to immigration instructions. Therefore, we will carry on collecting signatures to ask for the end of systemic discrimination based on disability grounds, and NZ government to honour the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

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For the past 7 years, Juliana has called NZ home. She has productively lived and worked, as well as advocated for people with disabilities. Juliana was disheartened to learn that her application for a permanent residency visa has been denied for the second time because she doesn’t meet the immigration health requirements as she has Lupus and is paraplegic. Juliana is now facing deportation and might be separated from her family members (her mother Nadmea, brother Alex and, sisters Viviana and Luciana) that live in New Zealand. Please sign her petition to change the immigration policy that discriminates on disability and health grounds.

Juliana works full time and she’s a taxpayer. People with disabilities should have the same rights as others and live life as they want. It’s a matter of fairness, dignity and respect. Many individuals with disabilities already have a tough life, the government and its policies should not make their lives more difficult. Let’s end systemic discrimination. Please help Ju to stay in New Zealand with her family and friends. Help change the immigration policy that discriminates against disability. Every signature counts!

Juliana Bio

Juliana Carvalho was born in 1981 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. She has a big family and had an amazing childhood. When she was 19, a spinal cord inflammation left her in a wheelchair. Instead of feeling sorry for herself, she turned this life-changing event into an amazing opportunity to grow and develop. She created and presented the Brazilian public television show Make a Difference, which promotes Human Rights and respect for diversity. She is the author of the Comedies of Crippled Life blog (comediasdavidaaleijada.blogspot.com) and also collaborated with the media group RBS to create the blog No Barriers addressing topics pertaining to accessibility. She produced and directed the award-winning short film If the Eyes Cannot See, The Legs Cannot Feel and won the Award for Best True Story from Marie Claire magazine Brazil 2012 for an essay on her sexual rediscovery after becoming paraplegic. Juliana coordinated editions of Movimento Superação (Overcome’s Parade - it celebrates diversity, timed to commemorate the International Day of People with Disabilities) in her native state in Brazil. Juliana published her autobiography In my chair or yours? In 2010. With the publication of her inspiring story, Juliana made headlines across her native Brazil. Garnering a strong public response, her book sold more than 30,000 copies and has been distributed to public schools throughout the country by the Ministry of Education. Major television networks have interviewed Juliana, and before long she had become a spokeswoman for the inclusion movement. Juliana currently lives in New Zealand with her mum, brother and 2 youngest sisters. 

For more information, visit www.juliana.co.nz

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Signatures: 34,865Next goal: 35,000
Support now
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Decision makers

  • House of RepresentativesNZ Parliament