A stateless toddler who was born in an Australian immigration detention centre and has spent her entire life behind barbed wire will have her first taste of freedom tonight.

Three-year-old Naomi Leong and her Malaysian mother Virginia, 31, are to be released from the Villawood Detention Centre, located in the outskirts of Sydney.

According to AFP , an immigration department spokeswoman said the duo had been given temporary "bridging visas".

"Discussions between Leong and her legal representatives and DIMIA (the immigration ministry) have led to the issue of a bridging visa which enable the family to live in the community," the spokeswoman said.

"She's been in contact with people to make arrangements for care outside of Villawood," she said.

The Leongs are expected to temporarily stay at the home of a fellow detainee, who had earlier also been held in Villawood.

"They will move into the house of a Russian family - a mother and son - whom they had met in Villawood," said Dr Marc Rerceretnam, president of the Australian Malaysian and Singaporean Association.

"The conditions for both mother and daughter will now be very much better."

Naomi was reported to be suffering psychological problems and was hitting her head on the walls after years of imprisonment with her mother.

Virginia has been fighting against deportation after she was caught trying to leave the country with a false passport four years ago.

She was two months pregnant when arrested and gave birth to Naomi in the detention centre.

Controversial detention

Rerceretnam together with a number of advocacy groups in Australia have been campaigning against Canberra's controversial policy on the detention of refugees and asylum seekers, especially children.

A psychiatrist who has examined Naomi described the child as 'mute' and 'listless'. She bangs her head against walls at the detention centre each time she sees her mother distressed.

There are 62 children in detention in Australia, but none have been held as long as Naomi, who has been jailed since 2001.

When Naomi's plight received front-page coverage earlier this month, the child was allowed by the authorities to spend three hours a week at a play centre to save her deteriorating mental health.

Virginia also has a seven-year-old son in Sydney whom she has not seen since being detained. The boy is living with her ex-husband.

She did not apply for permanent residency in Australia when she was married to her Australian husband, and was detained for attempting to travel to Hong Kong on a false passport after she overstayed her visa.

Despite being released from detention, both mother and child will continue to face the threat of deportation until their final status is resolved.

Fresh criticisms

The Leong case coincides with widespread media coverage of some high-profile blunders which have focussed new criticism onto the immigration policies of Prime Minister John Howard's conservative government.

Earlier today Cornelia Rau, a German-born permanent resident of Australia, held a press conference to condemn her wrongful detention for 10 months by immigration authorities who claimed she was an illegal resident.

The government also acknowledged earlier this month that it had mistakenly deported a naturalised citizen back to her native Philippines.

The United Nations and human rights groups in Australia and worldwide have repeatedly criticised Howard's government for its harsh treatment of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers, many of whom spend years in detention centers while they seek refugee status from authorities.