The Murugappan family have been detained by the Australian Government on Christmas Island with their 2 AUSTRALIAN BORN children for the past 2 – 3 years. It is likely that they will finally be released possibly today or sometime very soon. What is most disgusting is that it has taken this long for the Australian Government to even come to a decision. It has caused a lot of distress to the family and the young kids who are Aussie born, and it has taken public uproar, advocacy, media spotlighting and the youngest of the 2 children Tharnicca to get sick with sepsis and requiring medical attention, for the family to even have the chance to continue to live their lives in Australia.
The Murugappan family fled Sri Lanka’s civil war by boat in 2012 and 2013. They have made a life for their family in Biloela (Central Queensland), when they were thrown into the Christmas Island Detention Centre in 2019 after unsuccessful asylum claims made by the parents. Here is more from Sydney Morning Herald on what has transpired since the family was detained:
A series of court orders has stopped the federal government from deporting them, with the family’s future resting on whether Tharnicaa has the right to apply for a protection visa.
Tharnicaa was flown to Perth with her mother last week for medical care after being diagnosed with pneumonia and sepsis.
Family spokeswoman Angela Fredericks said while the family was cautiously optimistic about media reports they would be freed, they were yet to be contacted by the government.
In the early hours of Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said from England where he attended a G7 meeting that it wasn’t the government’s policy to offer pathways to permanent settlement, and offering medical attention was the top priority for now.
“There are options that are being considered that are consistent with both health advice and the humanitarian need and the government’s policy,” he said.
Australia has the audacity to criticise other countries (non Western/G7) for their human rights, when Australia itself has a rotten record of human rights – specifically with all the detention centres and how they treated families like the Murugappan. Good news is public pressure will hopefully soon see the family be released to go home in Biloela as soon as possible.
Image via Sydney Morning Herald
To read the original article, please click on: Biloela family could be released from detention as early as Tuesday