Following the deportation of over 30 Tamil asylum seekers by Germany on 30 March, the People’s Council of Eelam Tamils has written to express their deep shock and disappointment at the government’s “incomprehensible decision”.
In their statement they highlight Sri Lanka’s “disastrous human rights record” and the threat posed to those deported. The International Truth and Justice Project have highlighted the continued torture by Sri Lanka’s regime, documenting 178 documented credible cases of torture from 2015-2018, excluding 22 individuals abroad who reported torture following the UN special investigation. Those deported to Sri Lanka were from Germany and Switzerland on Tuesday night were handed to Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
In their statement, the People’s Council of Eelam Tamils highlights the protests held in advance of the deportations. During these protests, hundreds of German Tamils rallied in Buren, Berlin, Pforzheim, and Dusseldorf. In these demonstrations, they were joined by members of the Bundestag, state parliamentarians, party leaders, non-governmental organisations, the refugee councils of NRW and Baden-Wurttemberg, solidarity groups and a large number of individuals who expressed their solidarity and spoke out to stop the deportations.
The People’s Council of Eelam Tamils highlights that they “campaigned for responsible members of the state parliament and parties to be informed about the collective deportations and informed them about the ongoing genocide against the Tamils in Sri Lanka and the resulting life-threatening situation for Tamils”.
It was thanks to the effort of the German Tamil community, alongside the “recently re-elected alliance 90/The Greens and the Left Party in Baden-Wurttemberg” that they were able successfully to exert decisive pressure on the situation and as a result, the regional council in Karlsruhe cancelled the deportation of four people living in Baden-Wurttemberg.
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