Bendigo groups in support of refugees will hold a rally next week in support of a Tamil family facing deportation to Sri Lanka.
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The rally will begin at noon on Monday at the Rosalind Park piazza and continue through the CBD to the library.
It comes following the news Federal Court judge Mordecai Bromberg has extended an injunction preventing Priya, Nades and their Australian-born daughters Kopika, 4, and Tharunicca, 2, from being deported until another court hearing next Wednesday.
Grandmothers Against Detention of Refugee Children's Bendigo convenor Di O'Neil said she was glad the injunction was granted, as Tharunicca's case for protection had never been heard in Australia.
But she said she was "totally horrified by the way the government has abused this family", who had been active contributors to their local community.
The family have been held in detention since March 2018 after being removed from their home in Biloela, Queensland.
Ms O'Neil said the health of the children had deteriorated while in detention because they lacked a proper diet and access to sunshine.
How the Australian government could send them back to Sri Lanka, as well as not address the problems that arose from their detention, she said, was "beyond [her]".
She encouraged people to call Immigration Minister David Coleman's office in the lead-up to next week's court hearing to protest the government's decision.
Federal Circuit Court Judge Heather Riley granted the injunction on the family's deportation late Thursday night, preventing any attempts to remove them from Australia after their departure on a Sri Lanka-bound flight from Melbourne, which was then forced to land in Darwin.
On Friday Angel Aleksov applied to the court on behalf of two-year-old Tharunicca.
There has been a request on her behalf to Mr Coleman for permission to make a visa application.
But Mr Aleksov said there has been no assessment by any Australian official about whether she is owed protection by the federal government.
Failure by the department to refer this question to the minister for an answer is "unreasonable in a legal sense", he said.
Christopher Tran, representing the immigration department and minister David Coleman, agreed to the extension but opposed the outcome.
"The application on its face is hopeless," he said.
Justice Bromberg ordered the government be prevented from removing Tharunicca and her family until 4pm Wednesday, September 4.
The case will return to court on Wednesday morning.
- With Australian Associated Press