A family of Tamil asylum seekers remains in Australia after a legal intervention saw them pulled off a plane bound for Sri Lanka just minutes before take-off.

The dramatic reprieve at Perth airport on Tuesday night follows a dawn raid a week ago at the home in central Queensland of Nadesalingam and Priya, and their Australian-born daughters, nine-month-old Dharuniga and two-year-old Kopiga.

At 5am on 5 March, Australian Border Force officers took the family into detention and transported them 1,500km from Queensland to Melbourne, one day after Priya’s bridging visa had expired.

The family remains in Australia and is safe, according to people in contact with them.

But their treatment has sparked widespread outrage. More than 62,000 people have signed a change.org petition asking the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, to intervene in the family’s case and grant them the right to stay in Australia.

Husband and wife Nadesalingam and Priya have lived in Australia since 2012 and 2013 respectively, when they arrived in Australia independently by boat. They met and married in Australia, and their daughters have never left the country.

They have lived in Biloela for four years – Nadesalingam is employed at the town’s meat works – and are well regarded in the close-knit community which has rallied to have them returned since they had been moved.

Nadesalingam’s application for protection has been rejected by Australian authorities, and his appeals extinguished, but Priya still had legal action over her protection claim current when she and her family were seized.

Priya’s briding visa expired on 4 March, but she has told advocates she had been in contact with the department about having it renewed, and said she had been told she would be sent a new visa.

And, in the weeks leading up to her visa expiring, court documents had been lodged in the federal circuit court over her protection claim. A directions hearing date was set for early May.

Despite having a valid court action under way, Border Force officials raided the family’s house at 5am the day after Priya’s visa expired.

“This was a dastardly and reprehensible action,” Ben Hillier, spokesman for the Tamil Refugee Council said. He said the family’s protection application should be reassessed.

“Dharuniga and Kopiga were born in Australia. This is their home – they have never been to Sri Lanka and do not hold Sri Lankan citizenship.

“Priya and her family fled Sri Lanka in 2000 and Priya came to Australia five years ago. She has not been in the country for 18 years and her family is no longer there.

“Nades faces persecution for his former association with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which was militarily defeated by the Sri Lankan armed forces in 2009.”

On Tuesday, having been detained more than a week, the family was flown from Melbourne to Perth, where they were put on an aircraft with several other Tamils, who were removed to Sri Lanka last night.

However, a last-minute legal intervention resulted in Border Force officials removing the family from the plane.



Angela Fredericks, a family friend in Biloela, is behind the online petition and the campaign to have the family returned to the town. A candlelight vigil was planned for 5:30pm Wednesday night at the Biloela Lions park.

Federicks said the family’s treatment was evidence of a “broken system”.

“Handcuffed like criminals. Separating babies and infants from parents. Has Australia learnt nothing from our history? I urge the government to take a long look and think about what it is doing.”



A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs said the family’s asylum application had “been comprehensively assessed by the department, various tribunals and courts”.

“They have consistently been found not to meet Australia’s protection obligations.

“Foreign nationals who do not hold a valid visa and who have exhausted all outstanding avenues to remain in Australia are expected to depart voluntarily to their country of citizenship,” the spokesperson said.

“Those unwilling to depart voluntarily will be subject to detention and removal from Australia.”