PRESCHOOL graduations are the latest rite of passage, with certificates and stage performances to mark the children's big event - but for Abinajan Rahavan, 4, graduation this week was a ritual humiliation.

The Immigration Department refused to let the Tamil boy take the stage with classmates for their performance on Tuesday, and stopped him sitting in the class photo.

The reason for this? Immigration detainees cannot be photographed in public. Despite attending the western Sydney school, the young asylum seeker was forced to ''disappear'' from the celebration, photographed by other families.

His distressed father, Yogachandran, who attended, has told friends his family was disgraced and his son singled out.

The Rahavan family are recognised refugees, but because the mother has a negative security assessment from ASIO, they live in indefinite detention at Villawood. Mr Rahavan is increasingly worried about the impact on his children aged 1, 4, and 7.