Queensland Tamil family from Biloela moved to Christmas Island under cover of darkness

Friends of a beloved Queensland family have slammed a government move to relocate them to Christmas Island “under the cover of darkness” amid calls from compassion. It comes as the family’s lawyers admit the “frustrating” move makes their job a lot harder.

THE transfer of a Tamil asylum seeker family to Christmas Island is “not normal”, their lawyer says, after the family was granted a temporary a reprieve against deportation.

Supporters lost contact with the family, from Biloela in Queensland, on Friday night but learned just after 2am they had arrived at the detention centre on the island, northwest of Australia.

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The family’s lawyer Carina Ford told AAP she learned of their transfer after it occurred, in an email from the Department of Home Affairs.

Priya, her husband Nadesalingam and their Australian-born children Kopika, 4, and Tharunicaa, 2, had been held at a Darwin military base . Priya was able to make contact with family and friends when they arrived at Christmas Island.

Tamil asylum seekers Nadesalingnam, wife Priya, and their Australian-born daughters Tharunicaa and Kopika. Picture: Twitter

“My children have been separated from their world,” she 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.

Moving detainees without warning isn’t unusual, but “the transfer to Christmas Island is not normal”, Ms Ford said.

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

“It definitely makes our job harder and it’s disappointing,” Ms Ford said, describing new logistical issues as “frustrating”.

She is now waiting to hear back from lawyers for Immigration Minister David Coleman about how the family’s legal team will be able to have access to their clients, including to get documents signed.

The Christmas Island immigration detention centre.

They had arranged lawyers in Darwin to assist with that over the weekend. The Department of Home Affairs wouldn’t comment on the family’s relocation on Saturday, noting it would be inappropriate as the matter is before the courts.

Government minister Zed Seselja told ABC the assessment process is “pretty fair” but added he understood individual cases “can be very difficult”.

But Labor senator Katy Gallagher called the transfer cruel and called for compassion.

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 minister has the capacity to intervene in special circumstances. I think there is no doubt this family qualify for that,” she told ABC.

A Home Affairs spokeswoman said the family had been “comprehensively assessed” and found to not be owed protection.

But Federal Court Judge Mordy Bromberg on Friday extended an injunction, initially issued Thursday night, after lawyers for the family argued Priya and Nades’ two-year-old daughter Tharunicaa had never had her claim assessed.

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

The family’s legal team say only Tharunicaa is protected under the injunction and the rest of her family could be legally deported, but their lawyer Carina Ford said Australia would be condemned if the family was split up.

Despite mounting community pressure, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is refusing to budge.

Staff from Serco wait at the door of a secure apartment at Mercure Hotel in Darwin before moving the Tamil family back to airport. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images.

“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.

A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister David Coleman told AAP he was not commenting on the case.

Rallies in support of the family have been planned in all state capitals on Sunday.