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Chennai High Court summons officer over Sri Lanka deportation

The Chennai High Court has summoned an officer from the Foreigners Regional Registration over the deportation of an asylum seeker to Sri Lanka. 

S Anand was born and raised in India after his family fled Sri Lanka, and went to Australia in 2013. He was returned to India last month where he was detained upon arrival by Indian immigration authorities and deported to Sri Lanka. 

Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice Abdul Quddhose questioned why Anand was deported to Sri Lanka when he was born in India and his father had fled Sri Lanka in 1987. 

"If the petitioner's son had fraudulently obtained an Indian emergency certificate from the Melbourne Indian embassy claiming to be an Indian national and travelled to India, the usual course should be to send him back to the country from where he had travelled. However, surprisingly, the authorities had sent him to Sri Lanka, after informing the Sri Lankan embassy and obtaining an emergency certificate. When the petitioner's son was born and brought up and educated in India and he has got no connection at all with Sri Lanka, it is not known why the authorities deported the petitioner's son to Sri Lanka," the judges were quoted by the Times of India as saying.

They also criticised the authorities claim that Anand had entered Australia illegally by boat.  

"If the asylum application of Anand was rejected by the Australian government, he would not be allowed to move out of the refugee camp/ asylum seekers camp and there is no scope for the asylum seekers to come out of the camp. Therefore, prima facie it is doubtful as to whether the asylum application of Anand was rejected, as contended by the authorities." 
 

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