A Sri Lankan family with Australian-born children has now been served with deportation notices by the Australian Border Force and could be sent home within days.
The Tamil couple lost a bid to halt their deportation in the Federal Court on Thursday.
Despite having 21 days to appeal this ruling, the family were reportedly issued deportation notices on Friday afternoon.
Parents Priya and Nadesalingam and their two Australian-born daughters have been in a Melbourne detention centre for 110 days, after they were taken from their home in Biloela, in Central Queensland on March 5.
Priya and Nadesalingam came to Australia on separate boats in 2012 and 2013 and settled in Biloela before having their two daughters.
Residents of the Queensland town of Biloela are calling on Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to respect due process after Border Force issued the deportation notice to the parents.
“Priya and Nades lawyers are now working frantically to ensure this family is able to exercise their right to appeal Wednesday’s court decision,” said family friend Angela Fredericks.
A petition in support of the family now has over 103,000 signatures.
The Department of Home Affairs has previously said the family’s case has been comprehensively assessed over many years by the department, various tribunals and the courts.
The department said they have consistently found the case does not meet Australia’s protection obligations.
Source: SBS
-Agencies
