'Forgotten man of Manus Island' has disability payments cut after it was revealed he took 16 overseas trips

An asylum-seeker activist who made headlines in 2004 for being the ‘forgotten man of Manus Island,’ has had his disability pension cut after his travel habit deemed him ineligible.

Palestinian-Kuwaiti Aladdin Sisalem revealed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal last month, that he had used his support pension to fund 16 overseas trips in the past six years.

The Courier Mail reports Sisalem told his doctors he found it difficult to sit, stand use his hands or arms for more than a few minutes.

He also claimed he had difficulty coping with travelling by public transport.

Last week the tribunal found Sisalem was not eligible for the pension when it was cut last year, because he was spending too much time outside Australia.

The tribunal heard Sisalem’s overseas trips included a two-month indulgence at a ‘clinic’ in Thailand in 2015 as well as trips to China, Indonesia and Russia.

Senior member of the tribunal, Damien Cremean, found Sisalem’s disabilities did not reach the 20-point threshold.

Only people with serious disabilities can keep their disability pensions while outside Australia.

DSP eligibility requires pension holders must spend no more than 28 days outside Australia in any 12-month period.

Payments may be ceased if a person claiming the DSP travels in excess of 28 days in 12 months.

Sisalem was given a humanitarian refugee visa in 2004 and awarded citizenship in 2009.

In 2003 Sisalem spent 17 months on Manus Island after he paid a fisherman to drop him on an isolated island of the Torres Strait.

He was considered the ‘last man’ on Manus Island, after spending 10 months alone.

It cost taxpayers $23,000 a day to keep him there.

Sisalem was granted asylum in 2004 and allowed to start his new life in Melbourne.

He lived with refugee advocate and barrister Julian Burnside, QC, before he moved into a unit in St Kilda.

Mr Burnside helped him to find a job as a mechanic.

During the tribunal Dr Cremean said he felt it ‘did not seem credible’ that Sisalem paid for the travel by saving up his pension.

He found it unusual that Sisalem didn’t venture outside much during his trip to Thailand, a place famous for beaches and temples.

Sisalem claimed he suffered from serious neck and back injuries called ‘cervical canal stenosis’ and PTSD.

However Dr Cremean said it appeared this did not hinder him in lifting his luggage.

“(He) expressed no difficulty in being able to lift his 13 kilograms of personal luggage into the overhead lockers on his flight,” Dr Cremean referred to the flight in July 2015.

Dr Cremean felt Sisalem was an untruthful witness when he gave evidence on Feburary 22, during a bid to win back his pension.

He told the tribunal he accepted a report from July 2015, which found Sisalem was capable of working up to 22 hours a week ‘in the next two years,’ if he is helped.