The Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce has joined with legal firm Maurice Blackburn to help represent the asylum seeker family whose baby was born in a Brisbane hospital earlier this month.

The baby, Farus, was born prematurely and taken to Mercy Hospital, where his mother was only allowed access for a limited period each day, a decision for which Immigration Minister Scott Morrison was heavily criticised.

Latifa and baby Farus

The baby has since been moved to a Brisbane detention centre with his family, where they await deportation.

The family’s lawyers have argued they shouldn’t be sent back to Nauru because their baby was born in Australia and the baby and mother aren’t well, but the Government insists they will be deported when the baby is well enough. The family’s lawyers argue there needs to be a full hearing of the case before their fate can be decided.

The hearing has been adjourned until this afternoon while the Judge figures out if she can decide on the case or whether it needs to move to another jurisdiction. Misha Coleman from the ACRT says the case could be taken to the High Court.

“On Friday, at 3 o’clock, first of all there’ll be a decision about whether the court has standing to hear the case. If it doesn’t, we’ll then appeal to the High Court.”

The baby and his family are part of a Muslim Burmese Rohinga minority and spent 10 years in a Malaysian refugee camp prior to making the journey to Australia.

Misha Coleman says it’s concerning that baby Farus’ early separation has impacted on his ability to breastfeed and relying on bottle-feeding could become a problem in the grungy conditions of Nauru.

“Any of us who are mothers know that when bottle feeding a baby, you need to sterilise everything and keep it clean. Not giving the baby diarrhoea or some other kind of infection is hard enough in a nice Brisbane house, let alone on Nauru. So that’s what we’re really worried about.”

The ACRT is calling on Christians to take action if they want to influence the Immigration Minister’s decision.

“The whole notion of having babies and children and pregnant women locked up in jail-like conditions, as Christians we feel that policy is completely reprehensible.

“Anybody who is concerned about the welfare of the baby and the family and is concerned that Australia is locking up children and babies should call Immigration Minister Scott Morrison’s office directly and let their views be known.”

The Anglican church in Brisbane has resolved that if the family is granted a protection visa to stay in Australia, they will help accommodate and support them.