Incredible deportation backflip as Tamil asylum seeker family are allowed to STAY in Australia
- A Tamil family will remain in legal limbo on Christmas Island for the time being
- Federal Court judge said they had a legal case that needed to be decided at trial
- The family can’t be deported until the matter is decided through the courts
A Tamil family will remain in legal limbo on Christmas Island for the foreseeable future, with their deportation case now hinging on an upcoming court battle.
On Thursday afternoon, shortly before an order preventing their forcible removal to Sri Lanka expired, Federal Court judge Mordy Bromberg announced the family had a legal case that needed to be decided at trial.
The family, whose case rests on their two-year-old daughter and her right to apply for a protection visa, now cannot be deported by the Australian government until the matter is decided through the court system.
A date has not yet been set for their case to be heard.
The family now cannot be deported by the Australian government until the matter is decided through the court system
Priya, her husband Nadesalingam and their Australian-born children Kopika, four, and Tharunicaa, two, are being held on Christmas Island
Priya, her husband Nadesalingam and their Australian-born children Kopika, four, and Tharunicaa, two, are being held in detention after they were granted an 11th-hour injunction against their deportation last month.
A hearing in Melbourne on Wednesday failed to reach a resolution in the high-profile case.
Federal government plans to return the family to Sri Lanka were put on hold by a previous injunction expiring at 4pm on Wednesday, with Justice Bromberg making orders stretching until her decision earlier today.
Barrister Angel Aleksov argued on Wednesday that Australian-born Tharunicaa was legally entitled to make a visa application when ‘the bar was lifted’ between July and August 2017, following a determination by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.
The Tamil family will remain in legal limbo on Christmas Island for the foreseeable future, with their deportation case now hinging on an upcoming court battle
That change lifted the usual limitation to apply for a visa under the Migration Act, which ordinarily deems that children of asylum seekers who arrive by boat are not entitled to refugee status.
A protection visa application was made for Tharunicaa last week, with Mr Aleksov arguing that bar should remain lifted to assess her right to stay in Australia.
Dutton accused the family of dragging their children through the legal system even though a succession of courts has found the couple and their oldest child are not refugees.
The government argues it cannot make an exception because the couple came to Australia by boat and letting them stay could restart the people smuggling trade.
But there has been widespread community support for the family, who fled Sri Lanka after the civil war and say they are at risk of persecution if they go back.
The family lived in the Queensland town of Biloela before they wound up in an immigration detention in Melbourne and the community has fought hard for their return.
A GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the family has attracted almost $104,000 since it was launched two weeks ago. And an online petition supporting a return to Biloela has more than 250,000 signatures.
The family lived in the Queensland town of Biloela before they wound up in an immigration detention in Melbourne and the community has fought hard for their return