Ireland-based human rights organisation, Rohingya Action Ireland (RAI) called on Germany to “immediately halt the deportation of Tamil asylum seekers” and grant a place in the country where Tamils can “rebuild their lives away from fear”, in a letter addressed to the German Ambassador to the UK.
The letter, published on Monday, comes after Germany’s detention of over 100 Tamils on March 26 which sparked protests amongst the German Tamil community. Despite ongoing reports of torture by Sri Lanka’s security forces, 31 Tamil asylum seekers were deported yesterday from Düsseldorf airport to Colombo, Sri Lanka.
RAI said in its statement that “the Tamil community has faced decades of human rights abuses at the hands of the Sri Lankan government”.
“The deportation of asylum seekers will embolden the government of Sri Lanka in its continuous failure to provide justice and leave a great stain for Germany for forcibly sending the asylum seekers back to the danger against their will,” it emphasised.
RAI called attention to the prevalence of impunity at the highest echelons in the government of Sri Lanka. Moreover, it highlighted that “current Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa who were implicated for the gravest war crimes against the Tamil community at the heights of the Sri Lankan Civil War, continue to lead the country with full impunity.”
RAI then expressed their concerns to the German Ambassador over Germany’s plans to “deport around 100 Tamils which continues to deny justice, accountability and safety to the persecuted Tamil community” and stressed the need to call for an immediate halt to the deportation of Tamils to the island.
Read the full statement here.
