Introducing Our First Winner of 2024 –Dilan Richard Paul
Dilan Richard Paul came to our attention a couple of years ago, via a Christchurch based Doctor who had worked on Nauru with refugees incarcerated there by the Australian Government. Dilan had made a deep impression on her, and she reached out to us to share his story. At that stage, his family had made it to the Australian mainland but under draconian rules and restrictions.
Despite all the negative energy being invested towards him by the Australian government, Dilan had not only taught himself fluent English but was doggedly pursuing his goal to become an airline pilot.
Dilan Richard Paul
We finally met Dilan face to face in February this year after he was accepted for permanent residency in New Zealand as a refugee. To say we were blown away by this remarkable man is an understatement.
Now, it is said that every rule has its exception. Our own guideline about the age range of those we would offer a scholarship to found it, too, had an exception. Dilan is 25, but we knew we wanted to help him if he passed all required assessments.
Dilan had never known freedom to live a full life until he arrived in New Zealand late last year as a refugee granted permanent residency.
Dilan and his younger siblings were born in a refugee camp in Sri Lanka. Dilan and his family are devout Christian Tamils and as persecution in Sri Lanka became more open and violent, his family fled the country hoping to find a better life in Australia.
Dilan had grown up being hunted because of his faith. In 2014, he was being hunted because of his family’s desperation to be able to feel safe and live a normal life free from fear. Instead of finding that dreamed of life in Australia, they were intercepted as illegal boat people and once they were in the custody of the Australian authorities, Dilan’s life and wellbeing seemed to count for nothing.
Just like in an errant European country 80 years ago, Dilan lost his name and instead he was known only by a number. It was tagged to his wrist - for years.
The very first time Dilan flew on an aircraft, he was 15. He was shackled at wrists and ankles and sitting between two burly Australian guards, separated from the rest of his family who were also on the plane, as he was transported to Nauru.
Nauru’s location
But it is here we see the first measure of the man Dilan was growing to become. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t resentful or scared. He was sitting there realising that flight was a remarkable feeling and he had an epiphany. He would become an airline pilot, come what may.
Now this may seem a far reach considering he didn’t even have a name anymore – just a number – and was being sent to an island literally in the middle of nowhere.
Dilan (second left) and his family arriving in Nauru in 2014. His younger brother was 10 and his sister was only 6 years old. Note the tags on their wrists. They were Boat ID numbers - no name - and they were only called by their number for the entire time they were on Nauru
We know, via media reports, that the Nauru Detention Centre was a hell hole specifically for those desperate people who have tried (and failed) to find a safe place to live. However, it wasn’t until we met Dilan face to face that we got more information about the conditions on the island.
The island lies 53kms south of the Equator. Heat and humidity is intense. The accommodations were large plastic tents sitting closely together, filled with high sided cots. Two or three families shared a tent and there was ZERO privacy – all the cots were squashed together. Parents couldn’t be parents and quiet family time was non-existent. There was no sense of security or safety as the detainees fell asleep at night.
Dilan’s home for nearly four years
Conditions inside the tents
The regular beatings by guards, just because you were in their way; their ‘jokes’ - making the life of the refugees miserable and painful, were unavoidable and unpredictable. Dilan received regular beatings at the hands of the guards and never knew why.
To understand more about the Nauru Detention Camp, this link is useful - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauru_Regional_Processing_Centre
Unsurprisingly, his younger brother developed severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder which progressed to Resignation Syndrome. It is a terrible condition that children who are incarcerated fall victim to. They lose hope, just give up and eventually die. He stopped eating and communicating and became suicidal. His health went into a precipitous decline which couldn’t be arrested with the conditions on Nauru.
Eventually, in September 2018, Dilan and his family were moved to Australia so his brother could get treatment, but the family still remained under austere living conditions in Queensland.
Being a refugee, both in Sri Lanka and Nauru, Dilan’s opportunity to embrace formal schooling was patchy at best. However, Dilan realised very early on in Nauru that the only way to improve his chances of a successful life would be to become fluent in English. He embraced English lessons and did extra self directed study to become fluent.
After he finished ‘secondary school’ in Nauru he eventually worked for Medicin Sans Frontiers as a logistics and supply officer and used his language skills to become a translator for them... until they were kicked out of Nauru with their humanitarian work not appreciated by the Australian Government.
He also studied maths and physics to improve his understanding of flight and to help with his aviation studies. Dilan also completed a TAFE certificate in IT whilst on Nauru. Once he arrived in Australia, he finally began working towards his RAAUS pilot’s licence.
Dilan wasn’t permitted to pursue tertiary education or gain any permanent employment. He could only take up casual or 3 - 6 month positions. Nonetheless, he worked hard and diligently to support his family and any spare money was used for flying lessons.
He had a variety of casual and part time jobs. He started working in a vegetable and strawberry farm (so he needed to wake up as early as 4am to start work at 5am). He did bond cleaning, Kmart floor polishing and then eventually got employed as a phone technician, with each role secured in cell phone IT moving him up in seniority. Surprisingly, he also worked in Brisbane International Airport as International screener and Aviation protection office (screening baggage and people)!
Following the previous NZ Government’s persistence in pushing Australia to allow 150 refugees a year to settle in New Zealand, Australia finally acceded, and Dilan was accepted to immigrate to New Zealand as a refugee. We wrote a letter in support of Dilan for this process.
First solo completed - with unabashed joy!
He arrived in NZ, hitting the ground running and has impressed all those he has come in contact with since his arrival in December last year. Sadly, his family still remain in Queensland, but Dilan hopes they will be able to join him eventually.
Like all refugees arriving in New Zealand, Dilan spent some time at the Mangere processing centre but once the authorities saw how integrated Dilan already was with his fluent English and his career goal playing out, they released him early to come to Christchurch to live.
As a refugee, Dilan is automatically a permanent resident, but he wishes to pursue citizenship as soon as he can. He has a strong sense of loyalty to New Zealand for giving him the chance to live a normal life and treating him as an equal. He feels safe here.
As soon as Dilan arrived in Christchurch, he enrolled at ARA to continue his studies in Advanced English. He also found a permanent part time role straight away, as a mobile phone technician (he is also a fulltime student).
Dilan is a devout Christian and lives as he believes. As such, he is a very genteel and dignified young man who is softly spoken. He smiles readily, and his smile can light up a room. He immediately began working in a volunteer capacity at his adopted church here in Christchurch with cleaning and gardening as required.
He has also taken up a leadership role with the Young Eagles at Canterbury Aero Club, organising instructional days to help young people get to grips with the technical and inspirational side of aviation and being a pilot. He is currently undergoing formalities to become a Flight Commander for Young Eagles.
A ride in a Yak 52 courtesy of Rob George, fellow Young Eagles leader
We can’t imagine anyone finding a love for aviation whilst literally shackled as a prisoner, being flown to an island ‘jail’ such as Dilan did, as he was transported to Nauru, but there we have it. Under what could only be considered a highly stressful and dark situation for most people, especially a child, Dilan, instead, found joy and his life’s purpose.
From that moment, every action (and even reaction to adversity) has been to get himself further down the incredibly long and winding path to becoming a pilot. Not many people can say that a Government has stood in the way of them gaining their chosen career to an extent that Dilan has had to manage.
His faith and belief in himself have kept him true to the path to becoming an airline pilot. Despite the onerous conditions he had to live under whilst a refugee in Australia, he still managed to accrue 90 hours of flight time.
Dilan only arrived in New Zealand in December 2023 and made his way to Christchurch in time for Christmas. He promptly introducing himself to the CEO of IAANZ.
We got a simple text from the CEO (Jeremy Ford) after their meeting and in its brevity, he communicated that Dilan was a remarkable young man and that Air NZ would be stunned by his story thus far.
Even when it comes to flight training, Dilan wanted to make sure he was making the right decision for himself. He has decided that training in Christchurch means that he can grow strong roots here, alongside his church community and his volunteer work at Young Eagles and the Canterbury Aero Club.
CAANZ has allowed him to convert all his Recreational Aircraft flight hours towards his PPL.
Dilan had his Class 1 medical issued by CAANZ. He has taken up the mentoring programme we offer, and his mentor is Captain Arthur Gatland (Air NZ Sim instructor). Arthur also organised for Dilan to fly up to Auckland and have 4 hours in the B777 simulator.
In the Air NZ B777 Simulator with instructor and mentor Captain Arthur Gatland
In short, Dilan is extraordinary! He has overcome incredible and lifelong adversity, having been the unfortunate plaything for thugs, been predated on by sectarian violence as a child and having been, effectively, a prisoner of the Australian government throughout his teens.
Dilan has emerged as a gentle and compassionate man. He is eager to help others and be of use to his communities whether faith or aviation based. He is eloquent and thoughtful.
He carries himself with grace and good will to others and touches the hearts of those he meets.
We presented his case to his sponsor – David and the late Helen Meale – and within hours David came back with an emphatic yes to sponsoring Dilan.
Although we assess shortlisted candidates for the Scholarship dispassionately and use only cautious judgment, we couldn’t help but to find ourselves wanting to help Dilan achieve his goal. We had to be specifically ‘hands off’ during the assessment phase and leave it to our assessment partners to form their own opinions – we couldn’t be seen to influence the process. So, it was with immense relief and joy that the reports from each of the three phases came back with exceptionally high marks.
John Pauwels informed Dilan that he had won a scholarship in June, just a week before he started training at IAANZ. We, and David Meale, look forward to presenting Dilan with his trophy in front of his IAANZ peers shortly.
Dilan at IAANZ - no more obstacles in his way to become a pilot
