A Tamil family fighting deportation will be able to stay in Australia while their legal proceedings continue after a government appeal was rejected.
Priya and Nades Murugappan and their two young daughters are being detained in a demountable building on Christmas Island at a cost of $4,000 a day.
In April 2020 a court ruled their youngest girl s application for a protection visa was not assessed properly.
The government appealed but on Tuesday lost that case, meaning the family will temporarily remain on Christmas Island while their claim is assessed.
In a statement sent through their lawyers the family said: Thank you to everyone in Australia for the support and love that they have shown us. We are very grateful. It helps us stay strong. We just want to go back to Biloela. We need our little girls to be safe. Every day, they ask when can we go home?