9 November, 2024

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Deported Tamil Refugee Released In Sri Lanka, “Recants” In Staged Press Conference

By Colombo Telegraph –

Refugee Action Collective spokesperson Sue Bolton said today that she believes the statements made by Anthony in the press conference were statements made under duress. Bolton further said that she believed that “It is not surprising that Anthony agreed to the press conference after 16 hours of interrogation without any legal representation.

The statement below was released by the Refugee Action Collective in Melbourne this afternoon.

Deported Tamil asylum seeker interrogated for 16 hours then released but still in danger

Dayan Anthony after his release

Distraught family members of deported Tamil asylum seeker Mr Dayan Anthony have finally been reunited with him. Anthony was deported on July 25.

Anthony was interrogated for 16 hours after being handed over to the Sri Lankan police intelligence unit (CID) at Colombo airport. During this time, the Sri Lankan police refused to give the family any information.

In a scene reminiscent of hostage dramas when hostages are paraded before camera and forced to say the words of their captors, Anthony was forced to address a media conference where he recanted his claims of previous torture.

Refugee Action Collective spokesperson Sue Bolton said today that she believes the statements made by Anthony in the press conference were statements made under duress.

Bolton said that she believed that “It is not surprising that Anthony agreed to the press conference after 16 hours of interrogation without any legal representation.

“It is highly likely that it was a condition of Anthony’s release that he recant about his previous experience of mistreatment and torture. It is also highly likely that he was threatened during the interrogation in order to get his agreement to recant.

“The Human Rights Watch has documented  a dozen cases of asylum seekers being tortured after being deported from Britain.

“Reports of Dayan’s comments such as, ‘Sri Lanka has become the safest place on the earth after the LTTE was wiped out from the country’ sound totally unbelievable and sound like a script prepared by the CID for its own propaganda purposes.

“We are calling on the Australian government officials to publicly report what they witnessed at Dayan’s questioning and to explain why they were not present for the entire interrogation.

“Anthony’s family is now terrified for his safety. If Australia and Sri Lanka weren’t allies, the Australian government would have loudly condemned the charade of a press conference.

“The family has good reason to be afraid. In a recent case, a Tamil refugee was deported from Britain, interrogated at the airport then released, only to be re-arrested later and tortured.

Bolton added that there were many problems with what happened to Anthony. Anthony’s sister in Melbourne wasn’t allowed to visit him before he was deported.

When his sister realized that he was being deported, the immigration department refused to reveal what flight he would be on so that he could be met by a lawyer as well as his family.

The Australian government ignored a request from the United Nations to stop the deportation while Dayan Anthony’s case is investigated by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

Then, when the plane landed in Colombo, the Australian officials handed Dayan Anthony over to the Sri Lankan police rather than to his family.

Bolton said that the Refugee Action Collective is calling on the Australian government to:

·         intervene and seek a guarantee from the Sri Lankan government that Anthony Dayan and his family not be harmed in any way.

·         Seek the return of Anthony Dayan to Australia where his application for asylum can be reviewed.

·         Halt all forced deportations to Sri Lanka

Bolton also said that there are problems with the asylum assessment  process in Australia, if someone such as Dayan Anthony, whose life was clearly in danger in Sri Lanka, could have his asylum claim rejected.

“The treatment of Anthony since arriving in Sri Lanka demonstrates that the immigration department in Australia made a huge mistake in rejecting his claim for asylum. Tragically, rejections of asylum claims can result in a returned asylum seeker being tortured or killed.,” she said.

“The Refugee Action Collective and other refugee groups are stepping  up the campaign to stop further deportation and are seeking union and community support.

Latest comments

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    Reply from SL Defence

    Today I’d an opportunity to interview Dayan Anthony first deportee from Australia . Alrdy being H/o to over to his parents today. The significance of this event is that the some Australian reports /publications (attached) highlighted the following;

    The deportee is a victim of Sri Lankan war and has been in Mullawaikkal during 2009 and subsequently move to Australia. The same report highlights that he has been subjected to torture by CID as he was found guilty of associating with LTTE and selling clothes to LTTE from Negombo.Furthermore the report talks about the white van and how he managed to escape from the white van abduction. Hence the reports portray a complete different picture about Sri Lanka and blame Australian authorities fro putting this mans life in a very dangerous situation , indicating that he will be harassed, tortured and imprisoned.The report also indicate an arrest warrant issued against the suspect.

    http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/more-may-follow-as-tamil-deported-20120725-22r28.html

    I checked and found that all these allegations are baseless and not true. The said person was borne in Kayts and moved to Negombo in 1989. He has never experienced any wrong doings as alleged by the above media reports . He has gone to Malaysia seeking a job but has returned and then he has sought the assistance of an agency to go to France in 2009. Having failed that , the agent Siva (well known human smuggling operative) has taken him to Australia by using a fake passport. His sister is living in Australia . The agent has told him to tell the immigration authorities that he was in Wanni and was subjected to torture by CID and also has a case against him. He was wanted by Police. He was never in Wanni as claimed by the report. As per the statement made by him, he was asked to tell all these things as Australians have a soft corner for illegal immigrants.

    He also has been told that Australia will consider the asylum application only if it from North and East but not from any other part of the country.Today he is a freeman and he has never experienced any sort of harassment from the airport and he was taken in to CID in order to identify him and to check the allegations made against him by the media. At the CID he has been treated well and now released him back to his parents. He wants to start a new life. He blames the Australia authorities as he was handcuffed and brought to Sri Lanka which resulted in swollen wrists. All these were stated to the media personnel voluntarily prior to joining his parents.It is unfortunate that some segments of the media together with pro LTTE elements in Australia along with some human right activists deliberately engage in a campaign to bring discredit to GoSL on this issue behind the human right banner. will send you a photograph within half an hour.

    An Australian journalist also spoke to him today.

    Tks

    Suresh

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      Dear Patriot, Please forward your comments to Sue Bolton of refugee action.

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    If these rights groups are so genuine and sincere they must agitate the western nations who invaded other countries and established new nations during the past 600 years to vactae such countries establish human rights of the original inhabitants. Percy

    • 0
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      We can not do that, then we lose grants they give and eventually, we will be unemployed and without free air-trips.

    • 0
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      Percy

      seems sympathetic to natives.

      How soon can you vacate the invaders of my ancestral land?

      First in first out.

  • 0
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    If these rights groups are so genuine and sincere they must agitate the western nations who invaded other countries and established new nations during the past 600 years to vacate such countries and establish human rights of the original inhabitants. Percy

    • 0
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      Percy

      seems sympathetic to natives.

      How soon can you vacate the invaders of my ancestral land?

      First in first out.

  • 0
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    if your life in danger and deported waht you can now join with somalian pirates then you feel like a ltte person.

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    These buggers should be put in a cave in a corner in Lanka when they get returned. Otherwise just banish them from the country. All these tamil buggers are useless.

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      Liberation of Sinhalese Tigers of Lanka (LSTL)says:

      “All these tamil buggers are useless.”

      I know all Tamils are useless just like their Sinhalese brethren.

      Seriously, do you understand the meaning of “bugger”?

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      LSTL – go in liberate ur [Edited out]!!!

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    There is nothung to cry about being interrogated by the police. He left the country illegally, arrived in a foreign country illegally and deported legally so he is not a clean man. May be he is trying to flee again to another country.

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      SL, why don’t you apply the same rules that were applied to Karuna Amman who entered the UK under a false Passport as Kokila Gunawardene? Today he is the Vice President of the SLFP and a Minister in the MR govt. The Right’s Groups should interview this person after a year, that is if he is living and has not been whitevanned? Then the whole world will know the TRUTH.

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