Anti-deportation activists were unable to stop the deportation of Tamil refugee Raj Kumar (not his real name) on August 31.
At short notice, refugee rights activists and members of the Tamil community gathered outside Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney to protest the deportation. An application for an interim ban on the deportation was filed but not heard in time to prevent the deportation.
Johnny Tharma from , which organised the anti-deportation action, told 麻豆传媒 Weekly: 鈥淜umar had attempted suicide a couple of months ago out of desperation around being deported.
鈥淚t is not safe for Tamils in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is not a stable country for most Tamil people, especially young people.
鈥淭here was a war against the Tamils carried out by the Sri Lankan government in 2009 in the north-east region and they killed up to 150,000 people.
鈥淲hile there is not the same type of attacks now, it is still a militarised zone. For every five civilians there is one military person, and there are areas that are simply open air prisons.
鈥淭he government has a Prevention of Terrorism Act and under this act they can put people behind bars for up to 25 years.
鈥淎n estimated 6000 Tamils have disappeared. We haven't heard from Kumar since the Australian government deported him. He may have become one more of the disappeared.
鈥淚nstead of deporting Tamil refugees, the Australian government should pressure Sri Lanka to remove the military from the north-east of the country and hold an inquiry into the Tamils in prison and the 6000 missing Tamils. There should be a UN inquiry into the war and a political solution for the Tamils. After this, it will be safe to send people back.
鈥淭he Australian government has deported 10 to 20 Tamil refugees in the last few months 鈥 all silently. They tell them to visit the department of immigration, saying they have finished their case or there is more paperwork to do. They meet them, handcuff them, send them to the airport and deport them. We know they plan to deport more. But the community is coming together to act to stop this.鈥
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