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A Tamil asylum seeker family from regional Queensland hopes to take its case to the High Court, after its appeal against a deportation order was rejected by the Federal Circuit Court.
Priya and Nades and their two Australian-born daughters had settled in the central Queensland town of Biloela before they were removed and sent to a Melbourne detention earlier this year.
The Department of Home Affairs said the family’s case had been comprehensively assessed over many years but they had consistently been found not to meet Australia’s protection obligations.
A Federal Circuit Court judge today dismissed an appeal to permanently stop the family’s deportation but has ordered that the family cannot be removed from the country for six weeks.
Justice John Middleton made the order “having regard for the time of year”.
The town of Biloela has rallied behind the family and a petition to bring the family back has reached 140,000 signatures.
Biloela resident and family friend Angela Fredericks said she spoke with the family last night and while Priya remained hopeful, she could hear the “desperation”.
“They’re tired,” Ms Fredericks said.
Ms Fredericks said they would use the six-week window granted by the courts to pursue further legal options, such as those through the High Court.
“It [also] gives us time to again keep the pressure on the Minister for Immigration, so that they do intervene and let this family come home to Biloela,” she said.
Photo:
The two children of Priya and Nades were born in Australia. (Supplied: Tamil Refugee Council)
Ms Fredericks said the case was “gut-wrenching” and exposed serious flaws in the immigration system.
“This time of year … people all over the world are celebrating Christmas and this time of joy and celebration and love, and yet we won’t give shelter to people who are fleeing legitimate danger,” she said.
“This was a family on the fast-track system … Why bring people in, settle them in communities, make them productive members, if you’re just going to rip them out?
“I know Australia is behind this. I guess that’s what’s even more disappointing — the people in power aren’t actually listening to the people they are meant to govern.”
The Minister for Immigration David Coleman has declined to comment.
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