The Tamil Refugee Council has called on the Australian government to immediately end its policy of deporting asylum seekers to Sri Lanka, after the case of another Tamil being tortured by Sri Lankan security forces was revealed earlier this week.
A spokesperson for the organisaiton, Aran Mylvanagam, said,
“Australia’s policy on Sri Lanka and on asylum seekers and refugees is in turmoil. It is morally, ethically and legally bankrupt”.
The statement comes after the case of “Kumar” was reported by Australia’s ABC this week, who was tortured by Sri Lankan security forces upon his return to the island from Australia.
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Photo of Kumar's back taken the day after he arrived back in Melbourne from Sri Lanka on April 11, 2013. |
See our earlier post: Tamils from Australia tortured in Sri Lanka (24 April 2013)
Mylvanagam went on to add,
“The reason people like Kumar have to suffer is because governments like Australia engage with this brutal regime, giving them cover to commit their atrocities. Those horrific scars on Kumar’s back prove the lie, propagated by the Australian Government, that all Tamils are safe to return, let alone asylum seekers whom the Sri Lankan president has said many times are 'traitors'".
“It is a sickening thought that Kumar was being tortured and raped while the Australian Minister for Immigration was declaring it was safe for asylum seekers to return to Sri Lanka, and then proceeded send back 26 of them from Geraldton in Perth.“
See their full statement here.