Human rights organisations have condemned the appointment of a former Sri Lankan military commander as the acting operations manager of the Manus Island detention centre, where asylum seekers who arrive in mainland Australia are sent to.
Australia’s ABC News reported on Monday that Dinesh Perera, a former Company Commander in the Sri Lankan Army, was Operations Manager at the controversial Manus Island Centre where approximately 1,300 asylum seekers were being held – including some 30 Tamils.
Emily Howie, director of advocacy and research at the Human Rights Law centre, called for Perera’s removal, stating,
"It's completely inappropriate for anyone with links to the Sri Lankan military to be in charge of the welfare and well-being of vulnerable asylum seekers, including Tamils.”
"There's a high likelihood that the Tamils being held there are fleeing persecution at the hands of the Sri Lankan military.”
"This isn't about the activities of this one man. It's about [the] way that Australia takes care of the asylum seekers who are in its custody… The placing of an ex-military commander from a source country for refugees like Sri Lanka highlights Australia's complete insensitivity to the very real risks and suffering that those asylum seekers are fleeing."
Her comments were echoed by the Refugee Action Coalition's Ian Rintoul,
"I don't really think having a former Sri Lankan army commander running the detention camp where you've got Sri Lankan asylum seekers is appropriate."
"It's not to say he's done anything inappropriate, but he would have access to all those records. He would have access to their details and those details could be so easily passed on with terrible consequences for other people left behind in Sri Lanka."
The report comes as controversy over the Manus Island detention centre grows, following the death of a 23-year-old Iranian asylum seeker, after clashes with security staff at the centre.