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Biloela family finally flying home after 1500 days

<p dir="ltr">The Murugappan family are finally making their long overdue journey home to Biloela, Central Queensland, after spending more than four years in detention.</p> <p dir="ltr">Parents Priya and Nades left Perth with their Australian-born daughters Kopika, six, and Tharnicaa, four, early on Wednesday morning and are set to arrive home on Friday afternoon.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-05967195-7fff-23e5-cad2-82b79531dc89"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Speaking to the media outside Perth airport on Wednesday morning, the family gave thanks in English and their native language.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">The Murugappan family waving goodbye to Perth as they make their long awaited journey home to Biloela. <a href="https://twitter.com/sunriseon7?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sunriseon7</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/7NewsPerth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@7NewsPerth</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/7NewsAustralia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@7NewsAustralia</a> <a href="https://t.co/4aBpLNVP8H">pic.twitter.com/4aBpLNVP8H</a></p> <p>— Kate Massey (@KateMassey_7) <a href="https://twitter.com/KateMassey_7/status/1534313625078624256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The asylum-seeking Tamil family have undergone protracted legal proceedings to stay in Australia since they were detained in their home and placed in immigration detention by the Australian Border Force in March 2018.</p> <p dir="ltr">Since then, the family have been moved from Melbourne to Christmas Island, then Perth after Tharnicaa suffered a health scare.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-844b4327-7fff-4594-e141-1065e3446941"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Though town locals campaigned for 1500 days to bring them back, it wasn’t until a change in government that progress was made.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">The Nadeslingam family at Perth airport. Verna was there and sent me this photo. We said our goodbyes last night via messenger etc. I wish them well and enjoyed hosting them in Perth. But life for them is in Biloela. Hope they get the permanent residency status soon. <a href="https://t.co/mu2criXLna">pic.twitter.com/mu2criXLna</a></p> <p>— Suresh Rajan (@SureshRajan6) <a href="https://twitter.com/SureshRajan6/status/1534315698712895490?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The Morrison government refused to grant bridging visas to the whole family, preventing them from leaving community detention in Perth, with former Prime Minister Scott Morrison holding that the family hadn’t been found to fulfil the necessary criteria to be asylum seekers.</p> <p dir="ltr">Within weeks of the new Albanese government forming and being sworn in, the family has been granted new residency visas that allow them to return to Biloela by interim Home Affairs Minister Jim Chalmers.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-afa504b7-7fff-614b-127e-44e6da083a27">“The effect of my intervention enables the family to return to Biloela, where they can reside lawfully in the community on bridging visas while they work towards the resolution of their immigration status, in accordance with Australian law,” he said last month, per <em><a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/good-news/2022/06/08/biloela-family-home-queensland/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New Daily</a></em>.</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">And they’re off! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kopika?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kopika</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tharnicaa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tharnicaa</a> ready for the trip back to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Biloela?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Biloela</a> with friends from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Perth?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Perth</a> there to say goodbye! ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/AustralianStory?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AustralianStory</a>⁩ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/australianstory?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#australianstory</a> ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/CarinaFordImmi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CarinaFordImmi</a>⁩ ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/abcnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@abcnews</a>⁩ <a href="https://t.co/Sif5ZCEmy3">pic.twitter.com/Sif5ZCEmy3</a></p> <p>— Belinda Hawkins (@hawkinsbelinda1) <a href="https://twitter.com/hawkinsbelinda1/status/1534315742669193216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">In a bittersweet twist, the Murugappens will be home in time to celebrate Tharnicaa’s fifth birthday on Sunday.</p> <p dir="ltr">She was nine months old when they were first detained.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-4d8c26d1-7fff-853b-99ea-15c2a227a7dd"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Twitter</em></p>

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Mum of beloved Biloela family is one of Marie Claire’s ‘Women of the Year’

<p dir="ltr">Priya Murugappan has been named one of<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.marieclaire.com.au/2021-marie-claire-women-of-the-year" target="_blank"><em>Marie Claire’s<span> </span></em>Women of the Year</a>, alongside women like Grace Tame, Brittany Higgins, Ash Barty, and Biloela locals who have consistently been campaigning for the federal government to let Priya’s family return to the small Queensland town.</p> <p dir="ltr">Despite widespread support from the Australian public, the federal government has continued to refuse to let the family return to Biloela, a small town in Queensland located 120km from Gladstone. In<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/23/three-members-of-biloela-family-granted-year-long-visas-but-theyll-have-to-remain-in-perth" target="_blank">September</a>, only three members of the family (everyone except Tharnicaa, the youngest daughter) were granted year-long visas, forcing the family to remain in community detention in Perth rather than return home. This is despite the fact that both girls were born in Australia.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CWZj3VWv13j/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CWZj3VWv13j/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Marie Claire Australia (@marieclaireau)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The family had to be evacuated to Perth from Christmas Island, where they had previously been detained, because four-year-old Tharnicaa was found to be suffering from a severe blood infection. Without a visa, Tharnicaa is not allowed to live in the community, as the family had been doing in Biloela. Instead, the entire family must live in community detention.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Tamil family came to Australia claiming asylum on the grounds of persecution in their native Sri Lanka – Priya’s first fiancée being set on fire in front of her, for example. Priya sought asylum in Australia in 2013, while Nades sought it in 2012. The couple met in 2014, getting married that same year, before moving to Biloela and giving birth to six-year-old Kopika and four-year-old Tharnicaa. As their visas expired in March 2018, immigration officers stormed their home in a surprise dawn raid and sent to immigration detention on Christmas Island.</p> <p dir="ltr">Despite living in a bureaucratic limbo for three years, Priya’s interview with<span> </span><em>Marie Claire<span> </span></em>conveys her fierce and protective maternal instincts, with the mother of two telling the magazine, “I just think about keeping my daughters safe and my husband safe.”</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CWSVhZZPpFQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CWSVhZZPpFQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by #Hometobilo (@bringthemhometobiloela)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Of the Home to Bilo campaign, spearheaded by fellow residents of the small town, Priya said, “I felt overwhelmed. I’m so relieved and happy that there are people who really love and support us.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The family continue to fight in court for the right to remain in Australia, with Priya summarising their wish succinctly, saying, “All I want is to go back to Biloela, restart my life and live peacefully.”</p>

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