About 150 people demonstrated in the centre of Canberra about the treatment of the Murugappan family who are trying to stay in Australia despite the authorities deciding that they are not refugees.
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"We are rallying because the Tamil family who currently have a precarious future deserve safety and security," Professor John Minns of the Canberra Refugee Action Campaign said.
The family have had national - and even international - attention as they have tried to stay in Australia. They had made a home in the Queensland town of Biloela.
"They should be returned to the community that wants them - Biloela," Professor Minns said.
Priya and Nades Murugappan arrived in Australia by boat in 2012 and 2013. Their two daughters, Kopika and Tharnicaa, were born in Australia.
The government considers the whole family as "illegal maritime arrivals" because the parents paid traffickers to take them to Australia by boat. It argues that there is no risk to their lives if they are sent to the island state which was suffered from a civil war.
All the members of the family have been going through the legal process to claim refugee status but hit rejection from the Department of Home Affairs.
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After making a home in Biloela in Queensland, they were taken to Christmas Island. Only a court injunction prevented deportation to Sri Lanka.
The family has now been moved to detention in Perth so one of the daughters can be treated for a serious illness.
Professor Minns said he didn't see why it was necessary to keep them in detention. Even people on criminal charges get bail, he argued.
"The government is just playing politics," he said.
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Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
