Embassy monitors return of deportees
The British Embassy in Colombo today monitored the return of a group of failed asylum seekers who had been deported from Britain.
According to the Embassy, the British Deputy High Commission in Sri Lanka Robbie Bulloch monitored the return of 52 failed asylum seekers at the Katnayake airport.
“I visited Colombo airport today to observe the arrival of returnees from UK. All the 52 returnees arrived safely and have now departed the airport,” the High Commission quoted Robbie Bulloch as saying.
Earlier Human Rights Watch and Freedom from Torture said that the flights should be suspended because some ethnic Tamils been subjected to cruel treatment after arriving.
The British Foreign Office however told the BBC that the government only sends people back to Sri Lanka when it and the courts are satisfied that an individual has no protection needs.
It cited a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights that not all Tamil asylum-seekers require protection. And it said there had been no substantiated allegations of mistreatment of those returned from the UK.
