The Austrialian High Court rejected a bid from the Tamil refugee family to hear an appeal on the protection visa application of their youngest daughter, Tharnicaa. 

The Murugappan family have been fighting deportation since March 2018 after being taken away from their home in Biloela, Australia after their four year bridging visa expired and were detained on Christmas Island for three years.  

Earlier this year, the family of four were moved to community detention in Perth, Australia, following the medical evacuation of their four year old daughter to a hospital as she was being denied treatment by detention centre staff at Christmas Island.

The court also upheld a judgement that Tharnicaa had not made a valid visa application back in 2019 and the family sought to challenge that in the High Court.

Responding to the High Court's decision, Immigration Minister, Alex Hawke reportedly said "the family has a number of other ongoing legal matters" and that it would be "therefore inappropriate for me to comment further." 

Nades and Priya Murugappan came to Australiia separately by boat in 2012 and 2013 having spearate asylum claims. Priya reported seeing her former husband burnt alive whilst Nades is fearful of returning to Sri Lanka due to his connections to the LTTE. Despite credible concerns over torture and extra-judicial killings in Sri Lanka, the Australian Department of Home Affairs has repeatedly maintained that the family does not meet the criteria for protected status.