From: NCADC [mailto:
news@ncadc.org.uk]
Sent: 15 June 2011 16:44
Subject: Legal challenge to Sri Lanka mass expulsion
Legal challenge to Sri Lanka mass expulsion
A London law firm has submitted an application to the High Court seeking an injunction to stop the removal of at least 14 Sri Lankans. The refugees have been refused asylum, and are facing removal on a controversial deportation charter flight tomorrow, Thursday, along with about 50 others.
The injunction is on the basis that the deportees names and details of their asylum applications have been passed by the UK Border Agency to the Sri Lankan High Commission, in breach of Section 13 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
Not only have confidential legal papers been passed on, but the UKBA has also allowed the Sri Lankan authorities to interview detainees and question them about their asylum applications.
If these removals can be stopped, it is hoped that those concerned will be able to submit fresh claims for asylum, on the grounds that their safety has been put at risk as a result of this UKBA collaboration with the Sri Lankan authorities.
Further evidence is being collated. If you have anything relevant, or if you are in contact with any Sri Lankans scheduled for this flight who are affected by this UKBA action, contact Karim Assaad at Ravi Solicitors
Background
Around sixty failed asylum seekers may be deported from the UK to Sri Lanka tomorrow. This deportation has attracted quite a lot of publicity and is especially worrying. Amnesty International has provided evidence that failed asylum seekers have been tortured in Sri Lanka.
A Channel 4 documentary shown last night uncovered the horrifying levels of violence used in Sri Lanka towards the end of the civil war, in 2009. The asylum seekers due to be deported, particularly those with links - actual or perceived - to the rebel Tamil Tigers, are scared that the threat of extreme violence is still present. In March, the UK Foreign Office reported that although the war has stopped, human rights violations, disappearances, and arbitrary arrests have not.
The explicit press coverage of the civil war could make the threat of further violence even more acute. These breaches of confidentiality will therefore put the asylum seekers at a greater risk of persecution
More information on the Border Agency's breaches of confidentiality at Free Movement blog More on the documentary at the Guardian website