Forced deportations to Sri Lanka must stop

The Australian Greens say that the government’s shadowy process of forcibly returning people to Sri Lanka without processing their claims for protection must stop.

“This is a potential life and death decision for those involved,” the Greens immigration spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said today.

“The government is going down a dangerous road where people are potentially being sent back to very serious danger without having their claims for protection processed.

“It has been shown, even very recently, that people returned to Sri Lanka regularly face persecution and for the Labor Party to sink this low in the race to the bottom with the Coalition is very concerning.

“The cruel policy of offshore detention and the senseless ‘no advantage’ test are not stopping the boats and, tragically, not stopping the loss of life at sea.

“It is clear that we need to get back to a humane refugee policy.

“Australia can’t simply wash its hands of the people it is returning to Sri Lanka.

“The government needs to implement a system of oversight for those who they are returning, to ensure that it’s not sending vulnerable people back into dangerous situations.

“NGOs such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported that serious human rights breaches still occur in Sri Lanka.

“The government is crowing about behaving in this reckless way when, instead, it should be taking every precaution not to send people back to life threatening danger.”

Media Contact: Noah Schultz-Byard 0427 604 760