The Sri Lankan government announced it will be sending a team to Indonesia to “interview” a group of stranded Tamil asylum seekers, who were attempting to flee the island.
Sri Lanka’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Harsha de Silva said on Thursday that a “three-member team” would be dispatched to Indonesia, where the 44 Tamil asylum seekers are currently stranded.
He added that though the refugees claim to have fled from Sri Lanka, the boat came from South India.
"First thing tomorrow morning a three member team will be leaving to the location where they are now housed 250 km away from where their rickety boat which is no longer sea worthy was beached,” he said. “They will interview everyone to establish their identity."
"Our position is that if they wish to return voluntarily we will bring everyone back home with the help of IOM and UNHCR," Mr de Silva added.
The group of Tamil asylum seekers is made up of 20 men, 15 women including a pregnant woman and nine children
The group have been stranded off the coast of Aceh since June 11. Amnesty International called on the Indonesian authorities to allow the asylum seekers to disembark and meet with UN Refugee Agency officials. Indonesian police had initially fired a warning shot into the air to stop Tamil asylum seekers from disembarking from the boat.
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