Asylum-seeking family who have been stuck on Christmas Island for more than a year face ANOTHER legal hurdle as they fight to stay in Australia while taxpayer-funded legal fees mount

A Tamil family fighting deportation to Sri Lanka face another hurdle in their bid to return to their Queensland home, with an appeal before the full Federal Court.

The case is set to begin on Wednesday, and will hear appeal arguments from lawyers for the family and the federal government.

Priya and Nades Murugappan and their Australian-born daughters Kopika, 5, and Tharunicaa, 3, have been on Christmas Island for more than a year awaiting a final decision in their case.

Priya and Nades Murugappan and their Australian-born daughters Kopika and Tharunicaa are fighting deportation (pictured together)

Their Australian-born daughters Kopika and Tharunicaa , aged five and three, have been on Christmas Island for more than a year awaiting a final decision in their case

Federal Court Justice Mark Moshinsky ruled in favour of the family in April, finding Tharunicaa had been denied procedural fairness in her protection visa application.

He ordered their costs of $206,934.33 be paid, after determining that Immigration Minister David Coleman had lifted a bar to consider a visa application.

The family's barrister Angel Aleksov had also argued a second ground, which was unsuccessful.

In July 2017, by a ministerial determination from Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, the bar was lifted on 7,500 people who arrived in Australia by boat between 2008 and 2013.

Mr Aleksov argued the bar was lifted for Tharunicaa at that time, even though she was just a month old and Priya's application was under review. They said she was not part of her mother's application and a September 2019 visa application must be processed separately.

They have appealed their loss on that ground, while the federal government is appealing against the ground where the family was successful.

The hearing is expected to take two days.

Heartbreaking footage was captured of Kopika and Tharunicaa in August singing nursery rhymes and playing with a family friend, blissfully unaware of the deportation battle. 

Priya and Nades Murugappan and their two young daughters are the only people being detained on Christmas Island at an estimated cost of $20,000 a day 

The girls are joined by a woman known as Angela (pictured, together), who has flown twice from Biloela, a town in Queensland where the Tamil family used to reside in 

The family are stuck on Christmas Island in detention accomodation (pictured, a detention centre on the island)

Mr Dutton in July accused the family of 'playing funny games' in the courts to prevent their detention, pegging the cost to taxpayers at more than $10million.

'This is a situation that is of their own making - it is ridiculous, it is unfair on their children - it sends a very bad message to other people who think they can rort the system as well,' he told 2GB radio.

In an interview with Daily Mail Australia, the family's lawyer, Carina Ford, said it was actually Mr Dutton who was costing the taxpayer by refusing to let the family come back to the mainland while their case is pending.

'The same argument applies that he's being unfair by detaining them, it's as simple as that,' she said.

'I feel that trying to flip it around and blame the parents like that hasn't worked for Minister Dutton.

Priya recently travelled to Perth to hospital, but has since return back to Christmas Island and been reunited with her family

'I think people can see that it doesn't make sense for the person detaining the children to blame the parents.'

She added: 'We are using taxpayer dollars to detain them but they could be in the community while their case is pending, actually contributing, because Nades used to work in the local meatworks, and costing the taxpayer no money.

'Can you justify spending this amount of money on keeping a detention centre open that no-one else is using? I don't think you can. Maybe that's something the government can re-consider.' 

Priya and Nades came to Australia by boat separately in 2012 and 2013, saying they were escaping the Sri Lankan civil war.

They met in Sydney before getting married and settling in Queensland where they had their two daughters.

Kopika and Tharunicaa are pictured at the detention centre on Christmas Island on January 28

The couple's two children are pictured - Kopika and Tharunicaa - who live with them on Christmas Island

The family rented a small house, paid for with money Nades earned by working at an abattoir.

While her husband put food on the table, Priya looked after the children and attended Biloela Baptist Church craft group where she made dozens of friends.

But they were kicked out in March 2018 when their home was raided by police at 5am, the day after Priya's bridging visa expired.

Locals started a petition for the family to be allowed to stay and it has been signed by 350,000 people across the country.

The United Nations has also requested the family be let off Christmas Island but the government has ignored those calls.

Minister Dutton does not believe the family are legitimate refugees and wants to deport them - but the courts have ruled they cannot be sent home until their legal proceedings are over.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton told the family to go back to Sri Lanka - where they say they fear persecution

Nades (left with his family) has claimed he will be persecuted in Sri Lanka because he was forced to join the militant group Tamil Tigers in 2001

Ms Ford says she believes there is a 'good prospect' of her winning the case, which centres on two-year-old Tharunicaa, whose visa claim was never assessed. 

Nades has claimed he will be persecuted in Sri Lanka because he was forced to join the militant group Tamil Tigers in 2001 and was harassed by the Sri Lankan military.

The Immigration Assessment Authority rejected the claims on the basis he frequently travelled between Sri Lanka, Kuwait and Qatar for work between 2004 and 2010 during the civil war, something that a Tamil Tigers member would not be allowed to do.

Priya has claimed she watched her former fiance get burned alive and was raped during the Sri Lankan civil war which lasted from 1983 to 2009.