Australia Refusing to Resettle Tamil Asylum Family in Another Country

SYDNEY - An Australian official says a Sri Lankan Tamil family that had unsuccessfully sought asylum and was then held on a remote Indian Ocean island cannot be resettled in New Zealand or the United States, as earlier suggested.

“Please help us to get her out of detention and home to Biloela.” Priya Nadesalingdram pleads on social media for her daughter’s freedom as the 3-year-old recovers from sepsis and pneumonia. The pair was flown to a hospital in Perth, leaving another daughter and the children’s father on Christmas Island, a remote Australian territory in the Indian Ocean. The Tamil family was denied asylum by the Australian government in 2018 and have been held for more than three years. The government has said they have no right to stay in Australia. They were taken from their home in the state of Queensland and sent to a Christmas Island detention center in 2019. Earlier this week, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews suggested at a press conference they could be resettled in the United States or New Zealand.