Published: 1:23PM Monday July 07, 2014 Source: ONE News
The Australian government has returned 41 asylum seekers to Sri Lanka after their boat was intercepted and sailed back across the Indian Ocean.
The Daily Telegraph reported that at least one of two boats was intercepted off Christmas Island and has been returned by an Australian navy boat acting under border protection command.
The 37 Sinhalese and four Tamils will shortly be transferred to the custody of a Sri Lankan naval ship at sea, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Reports suggest the group was screened at sea - in an operation conducted under the enhanced screening policy first introduced by Labor in 2012 - and most were deemed to be economic refugees.
One of the asylum seekers' claims to refugee status was found to be credible under the screening process, the Daily Telegraph reports, but he asked to be returned home after being told he would be taken to Manus Island for processing.
The government decision to return the Sri Lankans back to their country of origin has drawn sharp criticism from refugee rights groups, raising concerns Australia has breached its obligations under international law.
Under the 'non-refoulement' clause of the 1951 UN Refugees Convention, Australia cannot send refugees back to a place where they face threat of persecution.
The Refugee Action Coalition's Ian Rintoul says the Government's screening processes are not adequate.
'You've handed people who are fleeing persecution in Sri Lanka back to the Sri Lankan government,' Mr Rintoul said.
'It's a complete violation of their human rights and the refugee convention.
'Those people should have been brought to Australia and had their claims properly assessed and settled in Australia if they were found to be refugees.'
Entities 0 Name: Australia Count: 4 1 Name: Daily Telegraph Count: 3 2 Name: Sri Lanka Count: 2 3 Name: Ian Rintoul Count: 1 4 Name: Refugee Action Coalition Count: 1 5 Name: Christmas Island Count: 1 6 Name: Rintoul Count: 1 7 Name: Indian Ocean Count: 1 8 Name: Manus Island Count: 1 9 Name: UN Count: 1 10 Name: Australian Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/VxaM2Q Title: Australia returns asylum seekers to Sri Lanka: what happens next? Description: What will happen to those returned? It is likely that the returned asylum seekers will be arrested and detained by the Sri Lankan police since according to Sri Lankan law it is illegal to leave the country without departing from an official port.
