No investigations and no accountability in attacks on refugees and asylum seekers says rights groups
There have been no police investigations and no accountability for the threats and violence faced by refugees and asylum seekers in Sri Lanka says a new report published by Amnesty International and Minority Rights Group International.
Following the Easter Sunday attacks, where more than 250 people killed in three churches and three hotels in Sri Lanka, refugees and asylum seekers from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran faced attacks by armed mobs, forcing some to flee their homes.
In their new report, Unsafe at home, unsafe abroad: State obligations towards refugees and asylum seekers in Sri Lanka, Amnesty International and Minority Rights Group International say that “the law enforcement were able to guarantee their safety, resulting in their relocation to crowded shelters in a police station and community centres.”
"There was no media coverage of any police investigations into the acts of violence, threats and intimidation directed against refugees and asylum seekers, jeopardising the the right to life, personal security and adequate housing among other human rights at risk."
The rights groups have called on the Government of Sri Lanka to protect all individuals in its territory regardless of their legal status, and without discrimination.
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