Australia deports Sri Lankan asylum seekers

Australia has deported a group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers who had reached Australia by boat.

According to The Australian newspaper, the latest boat was carrying 15 men between the ages of 20 and 30 when the engine failed.

After being intercepted by border force, the group was reportedly brought ashore at Christmas Island early on Thursday and deported to Colombo on a Government-chartered plane, accompanied by up to 30 Australian officials and contractors.

They were handed over to Australian high commission officials upon arrival in Sri Lanka’s capital, before later being turned over to the country’s immigration officials, the Australian reported.

Meanwhile, Labor minister Tony Burke reaffirmed the Australian Government’s commitment to boat turnbacks, saying the “policy doesn’t change”.

Burke, who briefly served as immigration minister during the Rudd government, said the “one good thing” the previous Coalition government delivered was “how to handle this issue”.

“People who try to come by boat get turned around and sent back,” he told the Nine Network on Friday.

“When they [the Coalition] came up with a way of being able to do the turnbacks, it was a good idea. We back it.”

The Department of Home Affairs reported that between 18 September 2013, and 31 December 2021, Australian authorities intercepted 38 suspected people-smuggling vessels and returned 873 “potential illegal immigrants” to their home countries or departure points. (SBS / Colombo Gazette)