A Sri Lankan court has lifted the ban on the deportation of asylum seekers from Pakistan, after Sri Lanka's Deputy Solicitor General warned the refugees were a threat to national security and were at risk of bringing malaria into the island.
Sri Lanka had temporarily halted the deportations, after a petitioner told the court they had fled persecution from Pakistani authorities, who were abusing Christians and Shia Muslims in the Ahamandi region.
However, Sri Lanka's Deputy Solicitor General Janaka de Silva successfully argued in the Colombo-based court, that the asylum seekers were not only committing crimes on their arrival to the island, but were also at risk of spreading malaria to the population.
The Sri Lankan government has been accused of violating international law by the UNHRC, for deporting asylum seekers to Pakistan when they may face persecution on their return.
See more in our earlier posts:
Sri Lanka opens new detention centres for foreign asylum seekers (30 Aug 2014)
UNHCR accuses Sri Lanka of violating international law (13 August 2014)
Sri Lanka rejects UN Refugee Agency criticism (15 August 2014)
UNHCR “deeply concerned” at Sri Lanka’s deportation of Pakistani refugees (06 August 2014)
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