Asylum seekers sent from Cocos Islands held in Lanka

The 12 Sri Lankan asylum seekers deported from Australia’s Cocos Island have been taken into police custody in Colombo.

Asylum-seekers whose wooden boats were intercepted off the Cocos Islands this week, were taken ashore (Pix: Rik Soderlund - The Australian)

The group, which included a woman, a child and an infant, were flown back on a chartered flight from the Island on Thursday.

The Australian government declined to comment on the arrival of the boat carrying the asylum seekers to Cocos, or the group’s rapid removal, saying “The government does not comment on, on-water matters.”

The group was taken from the airport directly into CID custody. Video footage of them arriving posted online, shows them being escorted through the Bandaranaike International Airport with some trying to cover their faces, before being marshalled into a police vehicle.

Lakshman Soysa, an Immigration and Emigration media spokesman, told the local press that all deportees were arrested on arrival and handed over to the CID. Media reports said some members of the group had tried to reach Australia previously.

In 2014, after Australia returned 41 Sri Lankan asylum seekers intercepted at sea, the UNHCR said the abbreviated assessment process was unlawful under international law.

“UNHCR has previously made known its concern to Australia about its enhanced screening procedures and their non-compliance with international law,” it said.

“UNHCR’s experience over the years with shipboard processing has generally not been positive. Such an environment would rarely afford an appropriate venue for a fair procedure.”

Under the 1951 Refugees Convention, to which Australia is a party, and under customary international law, countries cannot ‘refoule’ a person, that is, send them back to a place where they will face harm.

- The Guardian