Urgent Action Needed to Prevent Tamil Deportation

Urgent attempts to initiate legal action are being made this afternoon (Wednesday) to try to prevent the deportation of a Tamil asylum seeker to Sri Lanka.

The Tamil man, known in the media as Mr X has already been taken by Immigration authorities to Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport.

Mr X has been the subject of an appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture in September 2011. A request from the Special Rapporteur in October 2011 has been unanswered by the Australian government.

The Tamil man was taken from the community to the Marybinong Detention Centre on the 17 July.

“The Department of Immigration has ignored its own regulations by not giving this man any actual notice of his deportation. They are also desperately trying to get around a pending High Court judgment that would allow Mr X further appeal rights.

“The department has ignored that High Court action. He has been prevented from sending faxes for the last two days. The lack of notice is a deliberate measure to thwart possible legal action against his deportation,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.

“The human rights abuses of the Rajapaksa government are well known. In June the British High Court prevented the deportation of around 40 Tamil asylum seekers because of the Court’s concerns that forcibly removed Tamils could face arrest and torture in Sri Lanka.

We are urging the Minister to urgently intervene to prevent this man’s removal. The Minister well knows that other Sri Lankans who have been forcibly sent back o Sri Lanka have been arrested, tortured and imprisoned.”

For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713.