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Lawyers to stop baby going to Nauru

An urgent request to stop the transfer of a newborn baby and his family to Nauru will be heard in a Brisbane court on Tuesday.

Latifar, a Rohingyan woman from Myanmar, was transferred from Nauru to give birth to Ferouz in Brisbane’s Mater Hospital a fortnight ago.

They remain in detention with the child’s father and siblings, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers told AAP.

Associate Murray Watt says they’ll argue in the Brisbane Federal Circuit Court on Tuesday to keep the family in Australia until the child’s health improves.

Ferouz remains weak, has trouble breastfeeding and his mother is recovering from a caesarean birth and suffers from diabetes.

Mr Watt says it is a test case because it concerns the rights of an asylum seeker to present independent medical advice about their health, before any decision is made to take them back to Nauru.

And, it raises questions on whether the government can take Ferouz to Nauru at all, given that he was born in Australia.

“This family of asylum seekers from Burma has already been poorly treated, with limited access to visit their newborn son, Ferouz, while he remained in hospital,” Mr Watt said.

“This is an important case, not just for baby Ferouz and his family, but also in highlighting the injustice of detaining children offshore.”

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