Dutton urged to let Tamil family stay

A family of Tamil asylum seekers whose deportation was halted were taken to Darwin amid speculation they are headed for Christmas Island.

Supporters of the Tamil family facing deportation gather for a vigil at Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne yesterday. Picture: AAP

A family of Tamil asylum seekers whose deportation from Australia was halted on Thursday were taken to Darwin airport late yesterday amid speculation they were to be moved to Christmas Island.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is being urged to use his ministerial discretion to allow the Sri Lankan family with two Australian-born children to stay, after the last-minute injunction to prevent their deportation.

The family — mum Priya, dad Nades and daughters Tharunicaa, 2, and Kopika, 4 — were being deported from Melbourne on Thursday night until the injunction was granted by phone and the plane was forced to land in Darwin.

Federal Court judge Mordecai Bromberg yesterday ordered the government be prevented from removing Tharunicaa from Australia until 4pm next Wednesday, with an interlocutory hearing scheduled for that morning.

“This decision gives us some relief, I don’t know what else to say,” Priya told SBS Tamil. “The people of Australia are very kind, they have humanitarian values. They will accept me as a refugee.”

Last night, The Weekend Australian learned that Home Affairs was making plans to detain the family on Christmas Island, where thousands of asylum seekers were once held in crowded camps.

The detention facilities on the island have been empty for months. A skeleton staff works there on standby.

Mr Dutton acknowledged the stalled deportation would have been distressing but urged the family to accept they were not refugees or owed protection here.

“They came here by boat, and we’ve been very clear that they wouldn’t stay. At the same time, we’ve been very compassionate about the number of people that we’ve brought in, including many families,” he told Nine’s Today.

“In this case, they’ve been found right through to the High Court not to be refugees … we’ll work with this family to help them to resettle in Sri Lanka as 1500 people before them have done so.”

Nades and Priya came by boat in 2012 and 2013 and settled in the Queensland town of Biloela. It has rallied behind the family after their bridging visas ran out in March last year and they were sent to a detention centre in Melbourne.

Controversial broadcaster Alan Jones, Labor and the Greens have joined calls to let the family stay, with Anthony Albanese yesterday tweeting: “Well past time for Scott Morrison to show some compassion and decency towards Priya, Nader and their two children who were born in Australia #letthemstay #hometobilo.” Lawyer Carina Ford, representing the family, said Tharunicaa had never been part of her family members’ applications to the High Court and her protection claim should be considered independently.