An Australian detention centre on Christmas Island may have been specifically re-opened for a Tamil asylum seeker family granted an injunction against their deportation.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Lawyers for the family believe they're the only detainees on the island, northwest of Australia, where they were transferred overnight.
Priya, her husband Nadesalingam and their Australian-born children Kopika, 4, and Tharunicaa, 2, had been held at a Darwin military base after a temporary injunction halted their deportation from Melbourne to Sri Lanka.
Carina Ford, their Melbourne-based solicitor, only learned of their transfer on Saturday morning after seeing an email from Home Affairs Department lawyers sent just after 2.30am confirming their arrival.
Ms Ford confirmed the family were distressed by the overnight move, which she described to AAP as "not normal".
"We understand that potentially they are the only detainees on Christmas Island and that Christmas Island may have been specifically re-opened for them," she said.
"I don't really understand the motive of the Christmas Island move given that there are many other functioning detention centres in Australia, on the mainland."
Priya has told friends and supporters that aside from staff and guards they are all alone.
"My children have been separated from their world," she said.
Friends are also concerned for Priya's health after she told them she hasn't received prescription blood pressure medicine and that she has suffered chest pain since last weekend.
The move also creates logistical issues for lawyers who are due back in the Federal Circuit Court on Monday and Federal Court on Wednesday.
Ms Ford said Priya and Nades need to sign documents, and while people will be available on Christmas Island to assist, she needs to ensure confidentiality and privilege are protected.
Technology is also an issue. The young girls have stayed in contact with friend through video calls while in detention in Melbourne, but that's no longer an option.
A Home Affairs spokeswoman wouldn't comment other than to say the family's case has been "comprehensively assessed" and reviewed since 2012 and they were found not to be owed protection.
Federal Court Judge Mordy Bomberg on Friday extended an interim injunction until Wednesday after lawyers argued two-year-old Tharunicaa had not been assessed for a protection visa.
Government minister Zed Seselja told ABC on Saturday that the assessment process is "pretty fair" but added he understood individual cases "can be very difficult".
Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten has called on the government to intervene. It's understood Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Immigration Minister David Coleman both have the power to do so.
"Just let them stay," Mr Shorten said.
"The community want them, these people want to stay there, no-one is saying they are bad people."
Aran Mylvaganam from the Tamil Refugee Council said Sri Lanka is still not safe for Tamils.
"Priya and Nades fled the country under dangerous circumstances - Priya witnessed the death of her fiance who was burnt alive," he said on Saturday.
"We shouldn't be sending back Priya, Nades and the two kids."
Despite mounting community pressure, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has refused to budge.
"I would like the family to accept that they are not refugees, they're not owed protection by our country," he told the Nine Network 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.
Australian Associated Press
