Refugee council warns Tamil asylum seekers' lives in danger amid reports Australia handing them back to Sri Lankan navy

Updated

The Tamil Refugee Council claims at least 11 people who Australia has reportedly handed over to the Sri Lankan navy have been tortured by that country's intelligence services.

It has been a week since the Tamil community, refugee supporters and the media last heard from a boat close to Christmas Island carrying 153 Tamil asylum seekers.

They reportedly are, or have been, aboard an Australian Customs ship and, despite having claims for protection, will reportedly be, or have been, handed over to the Sri Lankan navy.

Tamil Refugee Council spokesman Aran Mylvaganam says he has spoken to a relative of people who were on the boat.

"There were at least 11 people on this boat who had been arrested by Sri Lanka's intelligence forces and had been tortured," Mr Mylvaganam said.

If they are handed over to the Sri Lankan authorities we are certain their lives are in danger. Tamil Refugee Council spokesman Aran Mylvaganam

He said the 11 would appear to have genuine refugee claims, and there must have been more people on the ship in a similar situation.

"There was at least a lot more, but 11 people have been accused of being members of the Tamil Tigers and were tortured by the Sri Lankan army.

"He [the relative] knows them. He was a close friend of these 11 people but he has at least five relatives on this boat who had been harassed by the Sri Lankan intelligence agencies in the past."

Asked if any on board were Tamil Tigers, Mr Mylvaganam said that was unclear.

"We don't know it and he doesn't know it, but they were accused of being members of the Tamil Tigers.

"They fled Sri Lanka to a refugee camp in India and from there got on a boat and came to Australia. If they are handed over to the Sri Lankan authorities we are certain their lives are in danger.

"Those who have been tortured in the past are at higher risk of facing more problems of the Sri Lanka intelligence agency. We are very worried.

"We have now got more information about these refugees and we know that if we don't keep an eye on them, the Sri Lankan authorities will torture them."

Morrison cancels public appearance, Bishop defends policy

The Australian Government has refused to comment on any active element of its border protection operations.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison cancelled a public event in Melbourne on Friday, but, speaking from Myanmar, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia was abiding by its international obligations.

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Julie Bishop avoids comment on reported asylum seeker boat (ABC News)

"We are determined to ensure that our border protection laws have integrity, that we abide by our international obligations, but importantly we stop people making the horrible journey by sea in unseaworthy boats to Australia," Ms Bishop said.

"We do not want to see women and children and families drown at sea as happened in the past. We are determined to stop that."

Sri Lanka is questioning the asylum seekers' motives.

Sri Lanka High Commissioner Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe has told the ABC that since the ceasefire in 2009 there has been peace in Sri Lanka.

"There is no reason for any Sri Lankan to leave Sri Lanka other than economic opportunities," he said.

"There have been thousands of failed asylum seekers who have been either voluntarily or involuntarily returned to Sri Lanka. They are leading a normal life in Sri Lanka with no harassment."

Handing asylum seekers back a 'flagrant violation' of international law

But the Australian Human Rights Commission has added its voice to those expressing concerns about the fate of asylum seekers sent back to Sri Lanka.

The reports have "gravely concerned" Labor and "profoundly concerned" the UN refugee agency, the UNCHR, which says: "No individual can be returned involuntarily to a country in which he or she has a well-founded fear of persecution."

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Richard Marles says the asylum seekers should be sent to Manus Island (ABC News)

The Human Rights Commission says it would be a "flagrant violation of international human rights and refugee law to return asylum seekers to their country of origin without conducting a fair and robust assessment of their claims".

In a statement, it says the Australian Government must "act consistently with the principle of non-refoulement by ensuring protection for asylum seekers from removal to a country where they face a real risk of significant harm".

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the Government must listen to the concern about the situation.

"Handing vulnerable asylum seekers back to the very people they are fleeing, in the middle of the ocean, is unlawful and dangerous," she said.

Labor's immigration spokesman Richard Marles says the Tamil asylum seekers should be brought ashore to Christmas Island and then sent to Papua New Guinea.

"It would be completely appropriate to have those people come through Christmas Island and then go, in accordance with the regional resettlement arrangement, to Manus Island, where safe refuge - we hope - could be provided and their assessments could be fully made."

Topics: immigration, scott-morrison, australia, sri-lanka

First posted