Sri Lankan asylum seekers’ deportation from UK halted at last minute

Dozens of Sri Lankan asylum seekers were removed from flights headed for Sri Lanka on 19 September following a UK High Court injunction. The injunction was granted because of the risk the asylum seekers would be tortured if returned to Sri Lanka. There was a similar order granted in the UK High Court in May, when once again the government had tried to deport asylum seekers at risk of torture to Sri Lanka.

 

Human rights organisations had protested strongly against the decision to deport the failed asylum seekers, pointing to extensive evidence that Tamils would be at great risk of torture if returned. The Guardian newspaper reported that two human rights organisations; Freedom from Torture and Human Rights Watch, both argue that the government has severely underestimated the possibility of Tamils being subjected to torture if returned, and that many Tamils are routinely arrested in Sri Lanka and questioned about their activities.

 

An article on the Human Rights Watch website says that, “The Sri Lankan security forces have long used torture against people deemed to be linked to the Tamil Tigers. However there is now growing evidence that peaceful political activity in opposition to the Sri Lankan government from within the UK, as well as real or imputed links to the Tamil Tigers, raises significantly the risks of torture for those who return”.