Research undertaken by Melbourne's Human Rights Law Centre found that immigration authorities were grossly underestimating the ongoing danger in Sri Lanka.
Human rights lawyers outlined that hundreds of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka were being sent back to persecution due to the Australian authorities rushing through asylum cases.
The Human Rights Law Centre director, Emily Howie, slammed the new screen-out police to deal with asylum seekers, stressing,
"The government has said it will endeavour to turn people around within 48 hours, and that's really worrying when we're talking about a country like Sri Lanka that has ongoing persecution."
"People might be at risk when returned so we need to provide every opportunity to have their cases heard and heard properly."