Sri Lankan Asylum Seekers Arrive in Australia after Weeks Held at Sea
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A group of 157 Sri Lankan asylum seekers arrived at a detention camp in Australia, government officials said on Monday, after having been held at sea by authorities for almost a month, sparking a legal challenge.
The interception and detention of the group has spotlighted Australia's controversial and secretive policies to turn back boats carrying potential refugees.
These policies have drawn world scrutiny and criticism from rights groups and the United Nations, besides legal challenges, Reuters reported.
The group was taken to the remote Curtin Detention Center in outback Western Australia on Sunday and Monday.
Indian consular officials were due to begin interviewing some of the group, whose boat was intercepted by the Australian navy after setting sail from India.
India has agreed to take back any of its nationals among the group but a lawyer asked to represent the Tamils said they should first be interviewed by Australian authorities to establish any claims to asylum.
"Now these people are in Australia, the ordinary protections of Australian law must be afforded to these people," human rights lawyer David Manne told Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) radio.
"On the information at hand so far, it's completely unclear what role India could properly play in this process. It's a fundamental principal of refugee law that no person should have to deal with the authorities of another country from which they may have fled."
The government made the decision to bring the group, which includes 50 children, to Australia after human rights lawyers began legal action in the High Court to stop them being sent to Sri Lanka and disputing the government's right to assess asylum claims while the detainees were at sea.
