The Tamil asylum seeker family-of-four who are desperately battling deportation could be spending their second Christmas in detention.
Nadesalingam and Priya Murugappan, as well as their Australian-born daughters Kopika, four, and Tharunicaa, two, were moved to Christmas Island in August following last-minute injunctions that prevented their deportation to Sri Lanka.
The Tamil family are the only people being held on Christmas Island, as they wait for a court to determine whether Tharunicaa is owed protection by the Australian government. Her parents and sibling have already been denied refugee status.
If Tharunicaa is found to be owed protection and granted a visa, the government has no power to remove her and her family from Australia.
They face yet another court hearing on Monday while lawyer Carina Ford is urging Australians to keep the family in their thoughts.
‘Don’t forget about this family,’ she told SBS News.
Nadesalingam and Priya Murugappan, and their Australian-born daughters Kopika, four, and Tharunicaa, two, were moved to Christmas Island in August
The family now cannot be deported by the Australian government until the matter is decided through the court system
This would be the family’s second Christmas in detention after spending last year at a Melbourne detention facility where they lived until August.
In March 2018, immigration officials went to the family’s home in Biloela, central Queensland, and took them to the Melbourne centre.
In late August the family were in the process of being deported when a Federal Court judge granted a last-minute injunction forcing a plane en-route to Sri Lanka to land in Darwin.
The family was moved from Darwin to Christmas Island and subsequent injunctions meant the family has remained there.
Nadesalingam and Priya arrived in Australia from Sri Lanka separately by boat in 2012 and 2013. Their two daughters were born in Australia.
The family, whose case rests on their Australia-born two-year-old daughter and her right to apply for a protection visa, cannot be deported by the Australian government until the matter is decided through the court system.
The rest of the family members have had their claims for refugee status rejected.
The Tamil family will remain in legal limbo on Christmas Island (pictured) for the foreseeable future, with their deportation case now hinging on an upcoming court battle
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
Australia’s immigration laws preclude boat arrivals from applying for refugee status while on Australian soil, to discourage people from taking the life-threatening journey in boats organized by people smugglers.
Ms Ford said a directions hearing at the Melbourne Federal Court on Monday will determine the next steps to be taken and could determine a final hearing date.
The lawyer said it is important for Australians to remember the family are the only people being held on Christmas Island.
‘The frustrating part is, in most cases when you’re running litigation in Australia you are not required to remain in detention, you live in the community, you contribute to the community, as they were doing before,’ Ms Ford said.
‘Why can’t they be in the community while this is going on? There’s really no logical reason that they can’t be.’
The family were put on a plane back to Sri Lanka in August, but in the final hours of the night Judge Heather Riley granted an injunction to block the move while their plane was in the air. A wave of supporters gathered to protest at Melbourne airport, chanting ‘let them stay’ (pictured)
The family had settled in the Queensland township of Biloela before being taken into detention, with Tharunicaa’s (pictured front right) parents and sister (pictured left and back right) already refused refugee status in Australia
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has been adamant the family will be leaving Australia.
He expressed his frustration that the case was dragging on, labelling it ‘infuriating’, particularly due to the costs to Australian taxpayers.
While protests have rallied behind the family, Dutton had accused the family of dragging their children through the legal system and using them as ‘anchor babies’ to try to gain visas via the back door.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison backed Mr Dutton’s position, warning that making an exception to immigration law for one family would trigger a wave of boats of illegal migrants hoping for the same.
A Facebook page set up in solidarity with the family is pleading for Australians to be compassionate and send cards with a ‘message of hope’.
‘The politicians isolated Priya, Nades and their QLD-born girls on Christmas Island, 5,000km from their Biloela home. They are now facing their second Christmas in detention,’ the post read.
‘From today until Christmas Eve, can you join us in taking one simple action each day for Priya, Nades and the girls? We’re calling this the “Twelve Days of Christmas Island”.’