Australia's Deportation Of Sri Lankan Tamil Family Halted In Mid-Air

A Sri Lankan Tamil family of four facing deportation has been granted an injunction that will keep them in Australia for the time being. The family was on a flight from Melbourne to Sri Lanka when federal court justice Mordechai Bromberg delayed the deportation that was aimed at the youngest member of the family, a 2-year-old named Tharunicaa.

The case is one that will pit existing Australian migration policies against the unusual circumstances of the family. The parents, named Nadesalingam and Priya arrived at Australia in separate boats in 2012 and 2013. The two later met and married and were told before they had any children that they would not be able to stay in Australia as they did not meet the requirements to be classified as refugees or asylum seekers.

Nevertheless, they had two children born in Australia named Kopika, now age 4, and Tharunicaa, the 2-year-old. An online petition by Change.org describes the family as “…valuable members of the close-knit rural community of Biloela, in Central Queensland. They have lived here for over three years and are a caring, hardworking family…”

The petition described the events of March 5, 2018: “At 5 a.m., their home was stormed by armed police and Border Force officers. Their seven-month-old baby and two-and-a-half-year-old daughters were ripped from their beds. Priya and Nades [Nadesalingam] were told they were being taken to a Melbourne detention center and given 10 minutes to pack up their lives. Priya and Nades were put into separate vans, driven to Gladstone Airport and flown to a detention center in Melbourne. Border Force officers told them that if they didn’t sign “voluntary” deportation documents, they would be denied access to a phone, separated and forced back to Sri Lanka. They begged to be returned to Biloela, but after two days of pressure, they gave in and signed the documents.

Despite the popular support for the family, the Australian government is defending the deportation because they say the family members are not refugees. Home affairs minister Peter Dutton, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, said, “I would like the family to accept that they are not refugees, they're not owed protection by our country. They came here by boat and we've been very clear that they wouldn't stay.” No Australian court or tribunal has ever supported their case to stay.

When the injunction was handed down, the flight carrying the family landed in Darwin, capital of Australia's Northern Territory, early Friday morning. A supporter named Angela Fredericks told the Sydney Morning Herald that, “They are now in accommodation near the airport in Darwin. They are absolutely exhausted and shattered but incredibly relieved.”

The petition to let them return to their home in Biloela has been signed by over 200,000 supporters.