Government agrees not to remove Rohingya family

By SBS
November 29, 2013

The federal government says it will not return a Rohingya asylum-seeker family and their Australian-born baby to Nauru until their case is properly dealt with.

An asylum seeker family from Myanmar with a sick newborn baby will be allowed to stay in Australia for the time being.

Lawyers for the family have struck a deal with the Department of Immigration to allow them to argue their case with procedural fairness.

Federal Circuit Court Judge Margaret Cassidy recognised the deal in Brisbane on Friday.

Listen: SBS reporter Stefan Armbruster tells Kristina Kukolja what happened in court today.

The family of five was challenging a government order to send them back to a detention centre on Nauru after baby Ferouz was born in Brisbane.

They will be allowed to stay in Australia until they receive a fair hearing and afterwards would need at least two days notice from the government if it intends to send them back to the tiny Pacific Island nation.

The case has been adjourned until March 21.

Outside court defence lawyer Murray Watt said it was a fair outcome for the family, their sick baby boy and the Australian community.

"Today we've managed to secure commitments from the government that they will get a fair hearing," he told reporters.

"It's a good outcome for this particular family."

But Mr Watt also said it was a time to reflect on the entire practice offshore detention "in conditions that only this week the UN has reported are inhumane".

"I think we can do better than that as Australians," he added.

"We have international obligations that require us to do better than that and I now call on the minister and the entire Australian community to think about whether these are the kind of conditions that we think are acceptable for very small children and their families."

Baby Ferouz's mother Latifar was transferred from Nauru to give birth in a Brisbane hospital a fortnight ago.

The boy remains weak and has trouble breastfeeding, and his mother is still recovering from the caesarean birth and suffers from diabetes.

The court still needs to determine whether Ferouz is entitled to Australian citizenship because he was born here.