Returned to danger: A study of the safety of asylum seekers returned to Sri Lanka

Abstract

Few other issues in Australian political discourse have excited as much extreme passion as the issue of boats carrying asylum seekers reaching Australian shores. Since 2012, more than 7,000 Sri Lankan asylum seekers have reached Australian waters by boat. Most of these asylum seekers were from the war ravaged Northern and the Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. The Australian government adopted many policies that were targeted to deter the asylum seekers from coming to Australia by boat. Returning asylum seekers back to Sri Lanka following a truncated refugee status determination process was one such policy. For Sri Lankans, the Australian government adopted an "Enhanced Screening Process" which despite its name entailed an abridged assessment process without any legal protection. This policy coupled with a range of other strict policies has resulted in more than 2,000 asylum seekers being returned to Sri Lanka, a country which has an abysmal human rights record. The research focused on whether the returnees were harmed after their return to Sri Lanka. The essence of the research was to identify whether Australia was guilty of violating its non-refoulement obligations by returning asylum seekers to Sri Lanka. To that end, the researcher interviewed 54 returned asylum seekers in Sri Lanka covering their experiences with Australian and Sri Lankan authorities in detail. The research revealed that four of these returnees were tortured after their return to Sri Lanka by Sri Lankan Law enforcement agencies and the paramilitary movements. Six returnees were detained without charge for over six months in overcrowded prisons. Former LTTE cadres were freshly targeted to become informants to the Sri Lankan intelligence services. All the crewmembers of the boat ventures were targeted for prolonged detention. The research concludes that, while not all the returnees were harmed, there are cases where the returnees were harmed in Sri Lanka constituting clear violations of the non-refoulement obligations of Australia.