Fresh pain for Sri Lankan asylum seeker family stuck in detention on Christmas Island as daughter, three, is evacuated to Perth hospital with a blood infection after 10 days in agony
- Youngest daughter of asylum seeker family is evacuated to a Perth hospital
- Three-year-old Tharnicaa is being held with her family on Christmas Island
- She developed a suspected blood infection and has been in ‘agony’ for 10 days
The youngest daughter of the Biloela family detained on Christmas Island has been medically evacuated to Perth with a suspected blood infection.
A flight carrying three-year-old Tharnicaa and her mother Priya landed at Perth Airport on Monday evening, advocates for the family confirmed.
They said Tharnicaa had been unwell for 10 days and might have septicaemia.
Tharnicaa Murugappan, (pictured in bed) the youngest daughter of the Biloela family detained on Christmas Island has been medically evacuated to Perth with a suspected blood infection
Nadesalingam Murugappan, his wife Priya and their Australian-born children Kopika, five, and Tharunicaa, three (pictured together) are Tamil asylum seekers currently detained on Christmas Island
‘I am feeling very scared and worried for my little girl,’ Priya said in a family statement.
‘She has been sick for many days, it took a long time for her to get to the hospital.
‘She is already asking for her papa, it is going to be very hard being away from her Dad and sister. It is very hard for our family to be separated when our daughter is sick.’
Advocates said Tharnicaa had experienced vomiting, diarrhoea, dizziness and a temperature of more than 40 degrees.
They said detention centre staff didn’t take Tharnicaa to the hospital on Christmas Island until Sunday, despite multiple requests from her mother.
Priya, Nades and their two Australian-born daughters, Tharnicaa and six-year-old Kopika, have been held on Christmas Island since August 2019 as the government tries to deport them to Sri Lanka, despite a community campaign to let them stay.
Kopika (right) and Tharunicaa (left), were born in Australia but being held in immigration detention
The family are stuck on Christmas Island. Pictured: A detention centre on the island
Tharnicaa (pictured) had been unwell for 10 days and might have septicaemia
They were removed from their home in the rural Queensland town of Biloela and placed into immigration detention in 2018.
The federal government has spent more than $6 million keeping the family in detention for the past three years.
Family lawyer Carina Ford said Tharnicaa’s condition had gotten significantly worse over the weekend.
She said the family had received medical reports indicating the two girls were suffering from both physical and mental health issues.
‘I think their day-to-day life is getting harder and harder, and there is no doubt that there is a greater impact on the children,’ she told ABC News.
Advocates also said guards had been stationed outside Tharnicaa’s hospital room on Christmas Island and had prevented a family friend from visiting the girl.
Priya and Nades met in Sydney before getting married and settling in Biloela, Queensland where they had two children
The family are not allowed to visit friends on the island and must get approval to go to a playground where they are accompanied by guards
In response, The Department of Home Affairs said both the department and the Australian Border Force were committed to the welfare of detainees in immigration detention.
‘Healthcare services for detainees on Christmas Island are broadly comparable with those available within the Australian community under the Australian public health system,’ a spokesperson for the department said in a statement.
‘The ABF facilitates access to nurses, doctors and specialists for all members of the family.’
Labor Senator Kristina Keneally expressed concern for Tharnicaa and her family.
‘A medical emergency and family separation is the last thing they need,’ she said.
‘This family should not be in detention. They should be in their community in Biloela.’
Greens Senator Nick McKim said the family’s treatment had been ‘appalling and disgraceful’.
‘They must be resettled in our community urgently, before any more damage is done,’ he said.
The Home Affairs Minister (pictured) told the family to go back to Sri Lanka – where they fear persecution