Why has the Tamil family been flown to Perth? Will they be allowed to settle in Biloela?
A temporary reprieve has been granted to a Tamil family left languishing on Christmas Island for the past two years, but their long-term future in Australia hangs in the balance. The Murugappan family has been released from offshore detention and reunited in Perth, where the youngest member, Tharnicaa, is recovering from a serious blood infection. Her mum, Priya, has been at the four-year-old's bedside for more than a week, and yesterday a charter flight collected Tharnicaa's father Nades and six-year-old sister Kopika from the remote island, 2,600 kilometres away. Their lawyer, Carina Ford, said the family was relieved and "looking forward to some freedom" but that the fight against deportation to Sri Lanka is far from over. "It's not quite the result we were hoping for, because we were hoping they'd be returned to Biloela," she said. After days of pressure, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke intervened and used his powers under the Migration Act to release the family from immigration detention and move them into the community in Perth. It follows medical advice from the clinicians treating Tharnicaa who recommended she remain in Perth for at least another eight weeks and that she be reunited with the rest of her family. "It is the right decision, a compassionate decision," Mr Hawke said. It means the Murugappans will now live fairly freely in the West Australian capital; they'll be given a house, have access to health services and Kopika will be able to go to school. But the family will still technically be in detention  they're classified as "irregular maritime arrivals"  meaning Priya and Nades won't be allowed to work, or even volunteer unless they're given approval, or move from their Perth home. They can't return to their former home, in the Queensland town of Biloela, unless the government changes its resident determination. It's complicated. Nades and Priya Murugappan arrived by boat in 2012 and 2013 respectively, got married, moved to Biloela and had their two daughters Kopica and Tharnicaa. In 2018, after the courts rejected their application for protection, the family was moved into immigration detention in Melbourne, and then on to Christmas Island when a separate court injunction stopped their deportation. Given the Murugappans are not considered refugees and are not owed protection, the government wants them to go back to Sri Lanka. But this family has an enormous amount of support; the Biloela community has been campaigning for them to return and even some within the government are urging the Minister to make an exception. So what Mr Hawke has done today is buy himself some time. Immigration Minister Alex Hawke can intervene at any point he wants. ( ABC News: Adam Kennedy  Legal action before the courts means "there are several outstanding pathways" for the family to stay, according to the Minister, but none will lead to permanent resettlement. "The government's position has been clear," he said. "We do not believe anyone who has come by boat should be allowed to be permanently resettled in Australia." In one case, Mr Hawke is being forced to consider lifting a "bar" allowing Tharnicaa to apply for a Temporary Protection Visa or a Safe Haven Enterprise Visa. If he lifts that bar, and Tharnicaa's application succeeds, Mr Hawke said it would have a flow-on effect for her sister and parents. "If a child is found to be owed protection, that then will impact the immigration status of family members here in Australia," he said. Mr Hawke can also intervene at any point, if there are "extreme or compassionate circumstances". Nades Murugappan and Kopika left Christmas Island to be reunited with Priya and Tharnicaa in Perth. If Tharnicaa hadn't been rushed to Perth Children's Hospital last week, it is highly unlikely that the Minister would have released the family from detention. While some within the Coalition believe it was a mistake to send the family to the remote island in the first place, costing taxpayers more than $6 million, few spoke out against the heavy-handed move. But when distressing images of a terribly sick four-year-old girl emerged, it helped humanise Australia's hardline border policies and brought into sharp focus the Tamil family's protracted fight to stay. The community-led campaign, backed by Labor, quickly gained support within government ranks. If Tharnicaa didn't get sick with sepsis it's unlikely the minister would've stepped in. ( Supplied: Change.org  Views on the family's fate, though, are divided and according to Mr Hawke, there is a great deal at stake. "The people smugglers watch developments in Australia closely," he said. "If [they] see a weakening in the border protection stance of Australia, they will restart the trade." That assertion is contested by the family's lawyer, Carina Ford, who believes the Murugappans would be considered an "exceptional case". "It doesn't mean the boats will continue," she said. "We just need to move on and not make an example of these children."