Priya and her family’s visa expired on 4th March.
The very next day, on March 5th, Australian Border Force officials arrived at their house in central Queensland and took her, her husband and two daughters into immigration detention in Melbourne.
The family was given 10 minutes to pack their belongings with them before the husband and wife were separately taken to the airport.
Priya and her husband Nadesalingam arrived by boat from Srilanka and sought asylum in Australia.
Nadesalingam, who had links to the former separatist army, the LTTE, applied for protection visa. Priya married Nadesaligam in 2014 and the couple have two daughters – a seven-month-old and a 2-year-old.
However, their protection visa was rejected.
A spokesperson of the Home Affairs department told the Guardian, 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.”
The family faces a grim future of being deported to Srilanka.
Their close-knit community of Biloela in central Queensland have started an online petition to express their support for the family and have appealed to the Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to allow them to stay.
“Our community is not ready to let this family go. They love living and contributing to our society. We want them here. Mr Dutton, please return this family to Biloela, their home, where they are wanted and welcome,” the petition reads.
