UN decries reports of Australia handing Tamil asylum seekers back to Sri Lanka
Saturday, 5 July 2014 02:09
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Illegal migrants detained by Australian authorities File pic
Reuters: The United Nations has expressed “profound concern” about Australia’s handling of asylum seekers amid reports that scores of Sri Lankans will be handed over to the Sri Lanka Navy after only a brief assessment by Australian authorities.
Two boats carrying more than 200 Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka were intercepted by Australian border security forces in the Indian Ocean in recent days and either have been or will be transferred to the Sri Lankan Navy, Australian media said.
An Australian source with knowledge of the operation said the intention was to carry out the transfer on Friday, but the situation was fluid.
The prospect of a risky mid-ocean transfer of Tamil asylum seekers and their return to Sri Lanka has sparked criticism of Australia’s tough immigration policy.
Sri Lanka is facing heavy pressure from rights groups and the West for alleged human rights violations during the final phase of the war against Tamil separatists which ended in 2009.
It says many asylum seekers are economic migrants, but rights groups say Tamils seek asylum to prevent torture, rape, and other violence at the hands of the military.
Australia’s Government has not confirmed any details of the incident and refuses to comment on what it calls operational matters regarding its “Operation Sovereign Borders” program.
The UNHCR said it did not have official confirmation of the incidents but said it had followed “with profound concern recent reports in the media and from the community” about interceptions and assessment of claims for asylum.
“International law prescribes that no individual can be returned involuntarily to a country in which he or she has a well-founded fear of persecution,” UNHCR said in a statement late on Thursday.
Sri Lankan officials have given conflicting accounts about whether their Navy has been involved.
Government Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said on Thursday that the Navy had agreed to accept the asylum seekers but changed his response after questioning from reporters. “I really don’t know where we stand,” he said. Two other Government officials said the Navy would receive the boat people from its Australian counterpart. Forcing people seeking refugee protection back to their country of origin without properly investigating their claims is a flagrant breach of the Refugee Convention and international law, the Refugee Council of Australia said. “For asylum seekers, this is a matter of life and death, particularly in Sri Lanka which has a long history of political violence on a scale unimaginable to Australians,” Refugee Council of Australia chief executive officer Paul Power said. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who came to power last September partly because of his tough stance on asylum seekers, declined to comment, saying only that it was no secret that boats had been turned back under the policy.
“I want to make this observation,” he said. “Sri Lanka is not everyone’s idea of an ideal society, but it is at peace.”
Australia has offshore detention centres in the impoverished South Pacific nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru capable of holding thousands. About 16,000 asylum seekers came on 220 boats to Australia in the first seven months of last year but the government says there have been no illegal boat arrivals since December 2013.
Aussie Immigration Minister to visit Lanka amid refugee row
Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison
Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka this week amidst a growing controversy over an asylum vessel with over 150 Sri Lankans, the whereabouts of which is still not known.
The External Affairs Ministry said that Morrison is expected to arrive on Wednesday and will hold talks with the Government and Defence officials.
Morrison and the Australian Government have been silent on Australian media reports that a vessel with Sri Lankans onboard had entered Australian waters but was later returned to Sri Lanka last week. The Sri Lankan navy however said it had not taken custody of a vessel with asylum seekers. Meanwhile the United Nations (UN) refugee agency raised concerns over reports on the asylum vessel. UNHCR said it had followed with profound concern recent reports in the media and from the community in relation to the interception at sea of individuals who may be seeking Australia’s protection. However UNHCR says it does not have official confirmation of these reports. When boats presumed to be carrying asylum-seekers are intercepted, UNHCR’s position is that requests for international protection should be considered within the territory of the intercepting state, consistent with fundamental refugee protection principles. International law prescribes that no individual can be returned involuntarily to a country in which he or she has a well-founded fear of persecution. (Colombo Gazette)
