The Boshra family arrived in Australia from Egypt four years ago on visitor visas, escaping decades of violence targeting Coptic Christians.
Ashraf Boshra says he, his wife Amany, and three daughters came here because as Coptic Christians, their lives were in great danger.
"[I came here] seeking safety for my daughters, escaping the situation," he told SBS World News.
"I'm scared about my daughters, I'm scared about their safety. I'm scared about my wife."
The family says since fleeing, the situation for Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 per cent of Egypt’s 90-million population, has grown worse.
The most recent attack on a bus in Minya province in central Egypt killed dozens.
It's the latest in a string of major assaults on Christians in past six months and there have been threats of further violence.
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The Boshra family have twice applied for protection visas but having had both claims rejected, they've been told they must return to Egypt by the end of June.
A large number of the victims in the were reported to be children and Amany Boshra fears her daughters will face the same fate if they're forced to return.
"The reason why we are here now is [because] of what's happened now. This is is what I expect to happen to my daughters or even for me or my husband," she says.
"As a human being, you have a right to live safely. It's not easy to live like this, when you leave everything behind."
Her daughters, Maria, 24, Mira 20 and Monica, 14 are terrified to return.
The youngest, Monica who was 10-years-old when she relocated to Australia, has been suffering anxiety.
"I'm worried if I go back, it's just making me really, really scared," she said.
Her older sister Maria says it's been really hard to see her younger sister suffer.
"I see her very happy here and it wasn't the same case before we came here. And she found herself here, she found her personality," she said.
"Her friends are crying every day when they hear that she's going."
Maria, who studies engineering, said she doesn't see a future for herself in Egypt.
"You go back, you live a life like all the other people, who can't find their basic rights in life. Like if you walk down the street, it's your right to be safe. We found that here [in Australia].
She said she will not be able to continue her studies once deported, because her family cannot afford to pay for her to study as an international student.
It's the same situation for her sister Mira, who will be forced to abandon her dentistry studies.
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection have told the family their request "does not meet the Ministers guidelines".
They say they have not been given, nor can think of a specific reason why this is the case.
Mira says her family have made every effort to contribute to Australian society.
"We've been working hard, we've been studying really hard, we've achieved amazing things at school, me and my sister, four of us are working," she says.
It's not just the Boshra family appealing to the Department of Immigration, others in the Coptic Christian community in Australia face the same fate.
The girls’ grandparents have been told they must return to Egypt next week.
While Essam Ghali, who comes from Minya - the place of the latest attack - has also had his claim knocked back.
"I'm very, very scared [to return]," he told SBS.
John Nour, from the Coptic Diocese of Sydney, said it's causing "a lot of community anger and a lot of community frustration."
But there's fresh hope for the Boshra family, with the Department of Immigration confirming to SBS World News it will review their case.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department said: "The Assistant Minister has agreed to call up the Boshra case and consider it in light of the deteriorating conditions in Egypt."
