Neil Para marks the start of Refugee Week by walking along Lake Wendouree to signify the plight asylum seekers face living in 'limbo'

Neil Para, his wife and three daughters who had their refugee visas granted in 2013 and then repealed a year later, have said living in limbo has caused them not only a great deal of emotional upheaval but has also made planning for their futures extremely difficult.

It is for this reason and to mark the start of Refugee Week, Mr Para alongside his network of friends and the Ballarat community walked along Lake Wendouree in recognition of the plight asylum seekers like himself and his family as well as those across the country have encountered while waiting on their visa outcomes.

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In its second year of running, Mr Para carried 20.25kg to signify the number of days he and his family have suffered living in limbo in Australia over the weekend.

"I started this walk to demonstrate the burden this waiting period has had on our lives," he said.

"Since there's five us I carried one gram for each of us and multiplied that by the number of days we've been waiting which is 3055 days and then I added an extra five kilograms to also recognise the plight of other people in a similar situation."

Mr Para said reflecting on this uncertainty has made his hope for the future quite bleak.

"We're living without any hope we cannot plan for any life or any future for our kids or for ourselves or anything," he said.

He was however thankful for the support of the Ballarat community and said this was why he decided on joining the Ballarat SES.

"Our family has been looked after by whole of Ballarat so I was looking for a chance to give back to them and that's how I became involved in many things including the SES, which I've done for more than six years now," he said.

"I wanted to do something to give back and I don't know whether I am doing enough but I am doing something and I aim to help where I can."

He also said his involvement in the community has aided tremendously in maintaining his mental health.

"I wanted to keep myself busy because I don't know how my mental health may have been if I did not," he said.

In Sri Lanka Tamil people who form a minority in the majority Sinhalese country continue to face persecution. This is observed through the ongoing and unjust policing of Tamil people.

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