— VETD (@VETD_official) August 3, 2021
German Tamils held a protest at Frankfurt Airport today to stop the deportation of torture survivor and asylum seeker Sasi K, after he was taken into immigration detention on Friday.
The flight which was set to deport Sasi K. has been temporarily delayed by 1.5 hours.
A passenger has sent us a picture of the flight which just took off. The flight has a delay of 1,5 hours. More information is following #StopDeportation #SriLanka #torture #Genocide #eelamtamils pic.twitter.com/X6HrK0Apur
— VETD (@VETD_official) August 3, 2021
Demonstrators handed out leaflets, highlighting the plight of Sasi K, to other passengers whilst they waited at the Qatar Airways check in.
The leaflet reads:
"This is Sasi K. He is with you on the plane QR068 to Sri Lanka with a stop in Doha. He was massively tortured in Sri Lanka and fled to Germany. Now he is being deported on this flight! He is now at risk of torture again and fears for his life. He is separated from his family in Germany. His wife is in need of care and is left alone."
Sasi K fled Sri Lanka in 2015, after being detained and tortured by Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) during the armed conflict. Earlier this week, the People ‘s Council of Eelam Tamils (VETD) urged the German government to immediately stop the deportation of a Tamil torture survivor as his forceful departure would have long-lasting impacts on him and his severely disabled wife.
This is the latest in a string of deportations from Germany, where the authorities have deported over 50 Tamil refugees to Sri Lanka despite the risk of persecution and torture that they face on the island.
In March, Germany co-sponsored a UN resolution which highlighted the deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka.
The resolution, which Germany played a key role in drafting as a member of the Core Group on Sri Lanka, "expresses serious concern at the trends emerging over the past year, which represent a clear early warning sign of a deteriorating situation of human rights in Sri Lanka, including... increased marginalization of persons belonging to the Tamil and Muslim communities... arbitrary detentions; alleged torture and other cruel, inhuman degrading treatment or punishment, and sexual and gender-based violence."
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