Emergency appeals lodged by Tamil deportees

Published 13:54 BST

Dozens of Tamil asylum seekers have sought last minute appeals against their deportation to Sri Lanka at the High Court on Tuesday.

Solicitors for the asylum seekers have cited previous evidence of Tamil deportees being tortured on arriving back in Sri Lanka, and lodged their appeals.

Speaking to The Guardian, Kulasegaram Geertharthanan, from Jein solicitors, said:

"They are victims of torture and sustained visible scars and the [Sri Lankan] authorities have their records. It is highly likely that they will be detained after being returned."

He added that once they were detained, they could go on to face further torture.

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) have arranged a special charter flight for deportees on Tuesday.

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