Qld Tamil family sent offshore despite reprieve
A TAMIL asylum seeker family has been transported to Christmas Island after being given a reprieve against deportation from Australia until Wednesday.
Supporters said they lost contact with the family on Friday night, and learned just after 2am that they had arrived at a detention centre on the island, northwest of Australia.
The family's lawyers also claim they were not informed of the plan.
In a statement the Home to Bilo group said the family's solicitor Carina Ford had been notified of the move in a notice received from the immigration department during the night.
Priya, her husband Nadesalingam and their Australian-born children Kopika, 4, and Tharunicaa, 2, had been held at a Darwin military base.
BREAKING: Tamil family friend Angela Fredericks says the family has been taken to Christmas Island overnight. #hometobilo pic.twitter.com/vwccDCo94X
— Rachel Mealey (@rachelmealey) August 30, 2019
Priya was able to make contact with family and friends when they arrived at Christmas Island.
"My children have been separated from their world," she said.
"This is the second flight in as many days under the cover of darkness, taking this family even further away from the support of the community that loves them," family friend Rebekah Holt said.
The move comes after a judge issued a last-minute injunction to halt their deportation from Melbourne to Sri Lanka on Thursday night.
The family landed in Darwin after the order was made and were taken off the plane.
On Friday, there was another glimmer of hope.
A Melbourne court ordered the government not to expel the youngest child until a further hearing on Wednesday.
I contacted the Department of Home Affairs for comment/confirmation of the Christmas Island move. A spokesperson told me "As this matter is before the courts it would be inappropriate to comment further." pic.twitter.com/Ecy9IapuNW
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) August 30, 2019
The family's legal team say only Tharunicaa is protected under the ruling because her claims for asylum protections have never been assessed.
The rest of her family could be expelled as their legal avenues have been exhausted but Ms Ford said Australia would be condemned if it split up the family.
Despite mounting community pressure, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is refusing to budge.
"I would like the family to accept that they are not refugees, they're not owed protection by our country," he told the NineNetwork on Friday.
We hear about deportation and the threat asylum seekers face all the time. Usually it’s in reference to nameless, faceless people. But these are those people. And this is exactly what deportation looks like. #TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/VsWCasH8BJ
— The Project (@theprojecttv) August 30, 2019
Mr Dutton said the deportation had been years in the making and should surprise no-one, least of all the couple who had been warned prior to having children that they would not be allowed to stay.
