Blockade fails to stop mass deportation of Tamil refugees
Anger as mass deportation of up to 75 Tamil refugees from UK to Sri Lanka went ahead yesterday (15/12/2011). The community and supporters lost two-week long battle to block the flight, despite resisting on all fronts: in the courts, in the streets and finally outside the detention centres.
Campaigners were tipped off about this mass deportation charter flight two weeks in advance, when Tamils in detention centres were given ‘removal directions’ set for December 15th from an unknown airport. Several of these Tamil refugees had already been tortured once by the Sri Lankan government and feared it would happen to them again if deported.
The UK Border Agency’s plan was immediately condemned by human rights groups: Freedom From Torture hosted a panel discussion and published a new report with evidence of ongoing torture in Sri Lanka that documented cases where Tamils had been deported from the UK and then tortured on arrival by Sri Lankan authorities. Campaigners from Act Now went to the Home Secretary’s constituency to hand out information in the street about the dangers faced by Tamils in Sri Lanka. Legal challenges went on in the courts, saving some Tamils from the flight even on the final day. However, the flight is believed to have taken off with the majority of people onboard.
A last ditch attempt by activists to block the deportation coaches from getting to the airport was forcibly cleared by police and 5 protesters were arrested for obstructing the highway. Activists from Stop Deportation Network and No Borders had blocked off the exit to Europe’s largest migrant prison in dramatic style – just as the first coach was trying to drive out. Their simultaneous shut down of two ‘immigration removal centres’ lasted for several hours, before para-military police units were mobilised to escort coaches out through a disused road. In desperation one activist reportedly scrambled under the vehicle in a failed attempt to stop the last coach. Several of the remaining protesters looked visibly distressed once it became apparent police had out manoeuvred them. One of the coaches hired by the Home Office to deport this group of Tamil refugees was from a travel company named ‘Just Go’.
The operator of the flight on 15th December was ArkeFly which is a Dutch charter airline but is owned by the German TUI Group.
Dr Michael Frenzel (TUI Chief Exec): iberotel.headoffice@tui.com Fax: 49 511 566 1901 Tel: +49 511 566-00
Background to mass deportation charter flight to Sri Lanka 15th December 2011
Given the Sri Lankan government’s reputation for arbitrary detention and torture of deportees, mass deportation raises specific fears for many of the people booked on the flight.
This 5 minute video from Channel 4 outlines some of these concerns:
Freedom from Torture has published a new report documenting evidence of torture ongoing in Sri Lanka after the end of the civil war.
“Key findings include:
- Torture perpetrated by state actors within both the military and police has continued in Sri Lanka after the conflict ended in May 2009 and is still occurring in 2011
- Those at particular risk of torture include Tamils who have an actual or perceived association with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
- A variety of different types of torture have been perpetrated in a significant number of locations around Sri Lanka during the post-conflict period
- A wide range of different forms of torture have been used, often in combination, to inflict severe suffering on victims of torture with devastating psychological and physical consequences
- Many Sri Lankan torture victims are left with visible scarring attributable to both blunt force trauma and burns which suggests impunity for perpetrators of torture in Sri Lanka”
Freedom from Torture also recording a panel discussion outlining why deportations to Sri Lanka are unsafe.
Free Movement blog has repeatedly slammed the UK Border Agency’s Country of Origin Information for Sri Lanka.
(For background on the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka, watch Channel 4′s documentary “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields“.)
The UK Border Agency last carried out a mass deportation to Sri Lanka on 28th September 2011. 42 men and 8 women were deported from Luton Airport, with 9 others winning last minute reprieves.
The first mass deportation from UK to Sri Lanka this year was on 16th June 2011. Channel 4 News closely followed the story.
