A nine-year-old boy traumatised after losing both his parents in the Christmas Island shipwreck will return to detention despite have relatives willing to care for him in Sydney.
Relatives fear the Iranian-born Seena will return to his daily ritual in detention of staring blankly at the gate waiting for new arrivals, in the hope his mother will be among them, The Age reports.
The only child will be returned to Christmas Island's detention centre today after the funeral of his parents in Sydney on Tuesday, even though he has around 10 relatives living in Sydney.
Seena's father was buried on Tuesday, but his mother's body has not been recovered.
Seena's extended family have expressed concern about the state of the boy, who insisted that he be buried with his father at the funeral.
An aunt who is in detention with Seena is reportedly too traumatised by December's Christmas Island boat crash to comfort him, cousin Jaffar Ali Alghban said.
''We are more than happy to take responsibility for him," he said.
The federal government has refused pleas from survivors of the boat crash to be allowed to stay in Sydney while their asylum claims are being processed.
About 50 asylum seekers died when their boat crashed against a rocky shore on Christmas Island.
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