July 09, 2014

Australia 'sends the persecuted back to the persecutors'

located:	Australia, Sri Lanka
editor:	Vanessa Ellingham

By returning 41 Tamil asylum seekers to Sri Lankan military in the weekend, Australia has violated international law and is in breach of the international refugee convention.

UN refugee agency UNHCR expressed grave concerns about the handover which took place at sea near Sri Lanka on Sunday.

The exchange did not follow due process and left the group fearing torture or death at the hands of Sri Lanklan Police in a country where Tamils are persecuted.

The move, which is part of a severe crackdown on asylum seekers arriving by boat, known as Operation Sovereign Borders, has been widely condemned by human rights groups, as well as a group of 53 legal scholars from 17 Australian universities.

In a joint statement the academics said that the current policy of quickly screening each asylum seeker's application via teleconference at sea did not "comply with the minimum standards on refugee determination under international law".

Aside from the lack of due process, the handover is particularly inhumane as it leaves the lives of these 41 Tamils in the balance.

Leader of the Australian Greens party summed up the situation best when she described the inhumane handover as "sending the persecuted back to the persecutors".