The Federal Court ruled that two-year old Tharunicaa Murugappan, born in Australia to Tamil asylum-seeker parents, was not afforded procedural fairness in her asylum bid. The formerly Biloela-based family cannot be immediately deported and will remain in detention on Christmas Island until their case is finalised. Mother Priya said the mental health of her two young daughters was deteriorating and asked the government to allow the family to return to Biloela. Meanwhile, BuzzFeed News reported that Immigration Minister David Coleman did not reply to a letter from two human rights commissioners in 2019, accusing him of violating international human rights law in detaining the family.
Three men living in the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre were arrested after staging a rooftop protest over COVID-19 concerns. SBS News reported that 35 asylum seekers and refugees at the centre had refused all food and water for five days as part of a hunger strike. Australia's Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow called for the urgent release of all immigration detainees who pose no significant security or health risks, in line with the recommendations of peak medical bodies.
Bangladesh's coast guard rescued 396 starving Rohingya refugees adrift at sea for months, with at least 32 believed to have died. A human rights group said it believed more boats carrying Rohingya were adrift at sea, with COVID-19 lockdowns in Malaysia and Thailand making it harder for them to find refuge.
Greece relocated a dozen unaccompanied asylum seeker children from overcrowded migrant camps to Luxembourg – the first of more than 1000 relocations to other EU countries amid concerns over the impact of COVID-19 on camps in the Greek Aegean islands.