Refugees and asylum seekers are not new. In the book of Leviticus, the Israelites were reminded they were once refugees and were commanded, “When an alien resides with you in your land you shall not oppress the alien, the alien who resides with you shall be to you as a citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” God’s love is for every human being, of every creed and colour, gender and race – not just those who look like us or share our beliefs.

Jesus taught us to love our neighbours as ourselves and to be good Samaritans to strangers. When the Nadesalingam family fled Sri Lanka, that country was in the aftermath of a terrible civil war in which the Tamil Tigers were defeated and the fear of reprisal was real.

The Australian Government decided not to accept many Tamils as refugees despite their credible fear of persecution.

The Nadesalingam family came to Australia by boat arriving in 2012 and 2013. They met and married and applied for refugee status and had two daughters born here.

While the legal process of considering their refugee status was proceeding, they became part of the community of Biloela which demonstrated the loving embrace of the alien among them.

The family was torn away from the Biloela community and incarcerated on Christmas Island for no conceivable reason other than to make an example of them.

Not only has the family the threat of deportation hanging over them, but they have been unnecessarily harshly dealt with to the detriment of their health and the serious illness of one of the children.

Whilst the legal process which has taken far too long is completed, there is no real reason why the family could not have remained in Biloela – even if they are ultimately judged not to be refugees.

The Christian principle is clear. Foreigners in our midst, even if they arrive by boat, should be treated humanely while their circumstances are assessed.

I believe this family has been treated so badly that the law must be tempered with mercy.

The common decency of most Australians helps us to understand that this family have not been given a fair go. I urge Immigration Minister Alex Hawke to exercise his discretion to let this family stay.

The two girls were born here, they have the right to be Australians, and to have their parents stay with them.

Archbishop Geoff Smith is the Anglican Primate of Australia

This article (and the letter) originally referred to the family as the Murugappan family, but having been made aware of the following update from the Home to Bilo campaign we are retrospectively editing our articles:

“This family’s name is Nadesalingam. Tamil people commonly take the husband/father’s first name as their family name, in preference to surnames which are closely associated with castes.

For many years, the #HometoBilo campaign avoided using Nades, Priya, Kopika and Tharnicaa’s full names, for fear that this would further compromise the family’s safety and security if the former government forced them to danger in Sri Lanka.

We are grateful to journalists and media outlets who are addressing the family using the correct family name, Nadesalingam.”