A Tamil family who were removed from an asylum centre in Perth, Australia will not be sent to a government detention centre in Nauru, announced Australian authorities.
The Tamil couple and six month old baby girl were being held at Darwin, from where they were to be sent to Nauru detention centre, where they were originally being held. The young couple were moved to Perth for the woman to give birth.
Following the birth of their daughter, the whole family were to be sent to Nauru detention centre. Their removal from Perth sparked protests, as activists blockaded the driveway of the Perth centre where they were being held.
Since then, the Australian government has announced that 31 babies, including the girl born in Perth, and their families would not be sent back to Nauru.
The decision was welcomed by the Refugee Rights Action Network with spokesperson Victoria Martin, saying,
“This family delivered their baby here – a gorgeous little girl. This is a family that has survived war, torture, injury and grief.”
“They are ecstatic, over the moon and in tears not to go back to Nauru but they should have never been moved from Perth in the first place.”
Also see our earlier posts:
NGOs call on Australia to halt deportation of asylum seekers to Sri Lanka (10 Dec 2014)
Tamil family removed from Perth despite protests (07 Dec 2014)
SL police arrest asylum seekers turned back by Australia (28 Nov 2014)
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