Return to Biloela....

 The following may not be a great deal of interest to anyone outside of Australia but it makes quite interesting reading and something I have been following for a while now so have many others :

One very good outcome from the recent election here in Australia is a well publicised problem the previous government had regarding two people from war torn Sri Lanka.

Priya and Nades came to Australia legally and separately in 2012 and 2013 and lodged claims for asylum under international laws that give us all the right to seek safety from persecution. 

It is legal to seek safety from persecution, no matter how you arrive. Sri Lanka was a very dangerous place for Tamil people. Priya and Nades are Tamil.  Australia is signatory to the Refugee Convention Act which states people who come seeking safety without first seeking permission ( a visa) cannot be punished. 

They abided by the conditions of their bridging visas, obeyed Australia's laws, worked and paid taxes and contributed to the community of Biloela where they lived.   Biloela is a small rural town in central Queensland population under 6,000. They were accepted into the community with welcoming open arms.

Once politicians proudly welcomed people like Priya and Nades, who came seeking safety. Liberal Prime Minister Robert Menzies signature in 1954 brought the Refugee Convention Act into being and a previous Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser welcomed thousands of refugees from Vietnam. But in 2013 Scott Morrison, as Minister for Immigration, ordered officials to start using the word "illegal" to describe people seeking safety who arrived by sea.

There is I understand practices in place to determined genuine refugees seeking protection under the Refugee Convention Act, to which we are a signatory mentioned previously, as opposed to so called "boat people" that often pay people smugglers from our northern shores to transport them to Australia illegally.

So to cut a very long story short in 2018 after the birth of their two children, born here in Australia,  their peaceful life in the quiet community of Biloela suddenly and dramatically came to an end. 

Their visas expired and their refugee status was rejected. Their home was raided in the night by many border patrol officers. It is said as many as fifty! Without a chance to change from their night attire they were all taken into custody. Then later moved to a Melbourne detention centre. In August 2019 a late-night injunction stopped the family from being deported from Australian shores. They were then sent to a detention centre on Christmas Island just off the West Australian coast to await their fate. They have since been moved to community detention in Perth.

"Their youngest Tharnicaa at the time was just nine months old and she has since spent every birthday in detention." So says a long time friend and campaigner for their freedom Angela Fredericks from the town of Biloela. 

It has been a long, complicated, and  frustrating time for their many supporters around the country and from their many friends in the small country town that just want them to return. 

They had somewhat of a win earlier this year when the Federal Circuit court found the federal government's decision to prevent three members of the family from applying for further visas was "procedurally unfair". The parents Priya and Nades and seven year old Kopika have been granted bridging visas so they can remain here in Australia but the youngest daughter Tharnicaa's immigration case is ongoing. That ensured the family remained in community detention with their temporary visas set to expire in September this year.

The costs of keeping the family on Christmas Island last year alone was $1.4 million. Total government costs in all we read are surpassing $6 million! Just for this family.

The Labor party, that were at the time in opposition, have said if elected they would let the family stay. Now after the election this past weekend the dream has actually become a reality and they will now be able to remain here in Australia where they want to be.

For the family and their friends from Biloela everything depended on the weekends election. 

Their long term supporter and friend said amongst all the tears from the family and herself the first step is getting those plane tickets. "We just want their feet back here in Biloela."

A happy conclusion to a very sad and very long ordeal for a family that just want a quiet and safe life...

I wish them well back to their home and with friends in Biloela.

Hopefully I will be able to do another update soon....