Tamil family of 4 win court battle to stay in Australia
Lawyers for the family call on the Federal Government to immediately release them from detention in Christmas Island
By Ashleigh Stevenson and Rachel McGhee
MELBOURNE – A Tamil family seeking asylum in Australia will remain on Christmas Island for now, after the full Federal Court upheld a previous ruling relating to the immigration status of their youngest child.
Lawyers for the family are now calling on the Federal Government to immediately release the family from detention.
Priya and Nades Murugappan and their Australian-born daughters Kopika, 5, and Tharunicaa, 3, had been living in Biloela in central Queensland, but in 2018 immigration officials transferred them to a Melbourne detention centre.
They remain in detention on Christmas Island off Western Australia after a last-minute injunction on an attempt to deport them to Sri Lanka.
Last year, the Federal Court ruled Tharunicaa was denied “procedural fairness” in an assessment by the Federal Government and ordered the Commonwealth to pay legal costs of more than $200,000.
The Federal Government appealed to the full bench of the Federal Court, and on Tuesday (16) the court ruled that Justice Mark Mochinsky’s original ruling stands.
A separate appeal brought by the family was also rejected.
If either party wishes to appeal the case further they must first seek special leave from the High Court.
The family’s lawyer, Carina Ford, said that was now being considered.
“We will be reviewing the decision and considering appealing to the High Court, and unless the Minister provides an undertaking not to remove, we will apply for an injunction. We also think this justifies the release of the family from detention.
“There are several ministers who have always had the discretion within the immigration portfolio to release this family into the community while their legal matters are resolved.
“That was the case in 2018, 2019 and 2020. It remains the case now too.
“The family should be released immediately from detention and we hope that this will occur.”
A spokesperson from the Department of Home Affairs said in a statement Tuesday afternoon it was considering the implications of the court decision.
“The Australian government’s policy is clear — no-one who attempts illegal maritime travel to Australia will be settled here,” the spokesperson said.
“The family’s claims to engage Australia’s protection obligations have been comprehensively assessed on a number of occasions by the Department of Home Affairs, various merits review bodies, and appealed though multiple courts, including the Federal Court to the High Court.
“At no time has any member of the family been found to be owed protection.”
The spokesperson said “non-citizens who do not hold a visa and who have exhausted all outstanding avenues to remain in Australian are encouraged to depart voluntarily”.
“Those unwilling to depart voluntarily will be subject to detention and removal from Australia, as has occurred in this case,” the spokesperson said.
Priya and Nades issued a statement in response to the ruling.
“Thank you to everyone in Australia for the support and love that they have shown us. We are very grateful. It helps us stay strong,” the couple said.
“We just want to go back to Biloela. We need our little girls to be safe. Every day, they ask when can we go home?”
The Federal Government had maintained that Tharunicaa’s status is linked to the rest of her family, whose claims for a protection visa were denied in 2017.
The family have said they feared persecution if they were deported to Sri Lanka.
The Biloela local community’s ‘Home To Bilo’ campaign has been aimed at pressuring the Government to allow the family to stay.
After the latest Federal Court ruling, campaign organizers expressed concerns about the family’s welfare.
“We are deeply concerned about the ongoing wellbeing of our friends Priya, Nades and their beautiful girls,” campaign organizers said in a statement.
“Today’s outcome demonstrates that the Australian Government will do all they can to keep this family in the courts unnecessarily.
“It has been nearly three years since our friends were taken from their home, from a loving community, and from safety.
“Since then, there have been dozens of days in court and over a thousand days without freedom.
“All of this suffering could have been avoided if the Prime Minister and his colleagues had shown some compassion.
“On the 1,078th day of our friends’ imprisonment, we call on Mr Morrison to do just that.”
-abc.net.au