Up to 80 Tamil asylum seekers across four Australian detention centres are facing being summarily deported to Sri Lanka.
Tamils in Darwin, Scherger and Christmas Island have been told they are going to be removed and have been told to “pack up and go to property.” In Curtin, 20 Tamils have been locked in a room after they were summoned to a meeting at 7pm Western Australia time.
All the Tamils have been screened out. They have been refused legal assistance and denied any chance to make a protection claim.
The move comes only days after the government failed in its attempts to remove eight screened-out Iranian asylum seekers from Darwin.
“The government is denying basic rights to asylum seekers who came seeking protection from war and persecution in Sri Lanka. The government is trying to take them out of the country before they can get a fair hearing of their protection claims,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.
“The government is deliberately rounding up the asylum seekers after hours to avoid any legal action that could scrutinise the screening-out process. The government’s attempt to secretively spirit people out of the country is tantamount to an admission that screening-out is unlawful and cannot be justified.
“We have grave fears for these asylum seekers. Without their protection claims being properly considered, there is no doubt that they are being sent back to danger. The Rajapaksa regime has been internationally condemned because of its human right abuses. Report after report has indicated that the regime is guilty of war crimes.
“Many Tamil asylum seekers that Australia sent back to Sri Lanka are still in jail. Australia is now complicit in the human rights abuses of the Rajapasksa regime.”
The Abbott government’s deportation attempt comes on the same day as Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s (PIAC) international crimes evidence project called for the UN to investigate the responsibility of the Rajapaksa regime for war crimes.
The overnight deportation moves come after unconfirmed reports that 29 Tamil asylum seekers were removed from Christmas Island this, Wednesday, afternoon.
For more information contact Ian Rintoul mob 0417 275 713
