At least 12 Tamil asylum seekers due to be deported from the UK on Wednesday were taken off a flight heading to Sri Lanka after a senior judge issued a last minute injunction, reported the Independent.

25 failed asylum seekers who were deported from Britain on Wednesday night, were questioned by Sri Lankan CID upon their arrival in Colombo

The BBC reported that the families of those being deported were anxiously waiting at the airport, whilst the failed asylum seekers were being questioned by CID.

According to the International Organisation of Migration 25 people were aboard the flight, after a last minute injunction granted some of the original 60 who were set to be deported a reprieve.

Speaking on his death bed, T.P. Vijayaraj, the twenty-six year old Indian Tamil auto driver who self-immolated on Monday in Salem in protest against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s visit to India, urged Tamils to protest against the visit.

Vijayraj, who succumbed to his burns on Tuesday at 11:45 am at the Government Medical College Hospital, spoke to journalists before his death:

As Vijayaraj - the 26-year-old who self-immolated in protest against the visit by Rajapaksa to India - was dying from 95% burns, the Sri Lankan president's spokesperson, Bandula Jayasekara, exemplified Sri Lanka's response to the deaths of Tamils who protest.

A Twitter conversation that took place on Wednesday between Jayasekara and an opposition supporter who goes by the alias 'Fonseka2010' has been reproduced below:

The leader of the TMVP (Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal), Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, known as Pillayan, has been appointed as Presidential Advisor, reports the Daily Mirror.

The former SLFP organiser for the Trincomalee district, Najeeb A. Majeed, was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province on Tuesday, by President Rajapaksa.

The appointment is believed to confirm a UPFA (united Peoples Freedom Alliance) and SLMC (Sri Lankan Muslim Congress) coalition agreement.

The rights group, Tamils Against Genocide [TAG] applied on Wednesday morning to the UK Administrative Court for an injunction against the UK government proceeding with the charter flight  of forced returns to Sri Lanka scheduled for 15.30 pm on the same day.

See here for court order.

The bus carrying Tamil refugees due to be deported by UK Border Agency at 15:30 on Wednesday, has been halted by protesters, with one protester under the front of the bus. Photograph sent by protester to Tamil Guardian. Published 14:18 BST