“For those who got us back to Bilo.”

This is how Priya chose to dedicate her book with journalist Rebekah Holt, Home to Biloela: The story of the Tamil family that captured our hearts.

It means that as one of nearly 600,000 people who helped to bring her family safely home to Biloela, Priya’s book is dedicated to you.

Whether you signed the petition, contacted MPs and Senators, donated to cover legal fees, joined rallies and protests or helped in a myriad of other ways, Home to Biloela is your story too.

You can pick up a copy at your local bookstore now, or order online through these retailers.

Our community-led campaign to bring the Nadesalingam family safely home to Biloela began with an unanswered phone call from a dear friend.

It quickly grew into a movement of country folk and city-dwellers, Tamil-speakers and English-speakers, refugees and people born here.

A book sharing the story of every single individual and organisation who helped Priya, Nades and the girls come safely home to Biloela would run to many, many volumes.

There were people who helped get us started, and others who joined later on. Some of us took on the task of advocating in public, while others offered behind-the-scenes support.

Priya’s story is also one among those of many thousands of people who have become part of our communities since coming for safety.

Today, nearly 10,000 men, women and children who came seeking safety more than a decade ago are still being denied the permanent visas they need to live with safety and security.

Like Priya and Nades, around one in three are Tamil people who escaped tyranny, torture and genocide in Sri Lanka.

Many live with the very real fear that they could be taken from their homes and forced back to the danger and abuse which they escaped.

Any one of us could find ourselves in the situation that friends and neighbours faced when officials took Priya, Nades, Kopika and Tharnicaa from their home at dawn.

We hope that Priya’s story, told in her own words, helps more of us to hear the voices of the many Tamil people and other refugees who are still being denied safety and security, after being part of our communities for over a decade.

To borrow some of Priya’s words, we also hope Home to Biloela offers inspiration and optimism to all who played a part, big or small, “to continue to work together to make a change”.

With hope,

Vashini, Bronwyn, Angela, Simone, Iain and Nic, on behalf of the #HometoBilo team