The Biloela Tamil family is set to be deported from Australia within hours, with Australian Border Force agents taking them to Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport on Thursday night.
Asylum seekers Priya and Nadesalingam, and their two Australian-born daughters have been held in a Melbourne detention centre since March 2018, after they were removed from the tiny Queensland town of Biloela.
On Thursday night, SBS News saw two "Notices of Intention to Remove from Australia" documents for Priya, Nadesalingam and their "dependent children".
"[You] will be removed from Australia on Thursday 29 August 2019 to Colombo, Sri Lanka," the documents state.
"You will be escorted on your departing flight."
Supporter Angela Fredericks told SBS News the family has been removed from the Melbourne detention centre and "put in vans and taken to Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport".
It is understood they will soon board a non-commercial flight.
Last week, the government blocked an application for an assessment of the dangers that toddler Tharunicaa may face if she is sent to Sri Lanka.
That move was effectively the family's last avenue to staying in Australia.
SBS News has contacted the Department of Home Affairs for comment.
Biloela Resident Angela Fredericks
SBS News
Priya and Nadesalingam came to Australia separately by boat in 2012 and 2013, following Sri Lanka's civil war. They settled in Biloela for four years on a temporary bridging visa, which ran out in March 2018.
The High Court denied their bid to stay in May.
The family claims they would face persecution in Sri Lanka because of past family links to the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Last week, the Department of Home Affairs told SBS News "this family's case has been assessed, over many years, by the department and various merits review bodies. These decisions have also been the subject of judicial review applications in the courts".
Sri Lankan Consul General to Australia Lal Raj Wickrematunga has previously told SBS News it was "safe" for the family to return.
"As far as the Sri Lankan government is concerned, Sri Lanka is safe for Tamil families to return.
"The government has made an appeal for all those who've left Sri Lanka and sought refugee status elsewhere to come back."
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