Here to stay: Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seeker family welcomed with tears in Australia after four years
Nadesalingam family
After a lengthy immigration battle and four years in detention, the Nadesalingamfamily returned to Biloela city after they were taken from their home by the Australian Border Force.
For four years, Biloela locals protested their detainment and attempted deportation in 2018. Their case had become a leading example of Australia’s harsh treatment of asylum seekers.
The family of 4—Priya, Nades, Kopika and Tharnicaa —were welcomed with cheers of joy as they stepped onto the tarmac in the outback community, as supporters of the Tamil family waved banners and "welcome Home" signs.
As the family walked out of Thangool airport on Friday, Priya dropped to her knees and kissed the ground.
“I am so happy,” The Guardian quoted Priya as saying. “I am starting a new life.”
She said she hoped their arrival would mark a new beginning for her family and daughters.
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“I felt like I was flying, I can't describe the moment of landing in Bilo," she said through a translator, according to News Nine.
“Landing here gives me a lot of hope and for my daughters. I hope I can give my girls a better life and better future. Words can't describe what I am feeling,” she said.
The family was moved to Perth last year after their daughter Tharnicaa contracted sepsis. As she required urgent medical attention, three members of the family were granted year-long visas, but were forced to remain in Perth as Tharnicaa was required to remain in detention.
In May, the family was granted bridging visas, allowing them to leave community detention in Perth and return to their home in Biloela. But they were still not guaranteed their asylum status.
Nearly 600,000 people signed Home to Bilo campaigner Angela Fredericks’ Change.org petition in support of the family, and more than 53,000 phone calls and emails were made to Australian politicians from the family’s supporters across the country.
On Saturday, the family will attend Biloela’s multicultural Flourish festival – which is expected to attract 1,000 extra attendees to welcome the family home – before celebrating Tharnicaa’s fifth birthday on Sunday.
(With inputs from agencies)
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