Tamil parties want Germany to reconsider deportation [21 Mar 2000]  

Several Sri Lankan Tamil political parties have written to German authorities urging them to reconsider their decision to deport Sri Lankan Tamils who have been refused asylum in that country.

  The German authorities recently rejected applications for asylum by twenty deportees. The German Embassy said that further 5,500 are to be sent back.  

  The Secretary General of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) Douglas Devananda wrote on Saturday to the German Chancellor in Berlin requesting him to review the decision to deport any Sri Lankan Tamil at this point of time when full negotiations are in progress to find a political solution to the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka.  

  "It is everyone's hope that a political solution acceptable to all sections of the Sri Lankan society would be found within the next few months and that the civil war would be brought to an end thereafter," he wrote.  

  In his letter he explained the lengthy period of time that would take to rebuild the economic infrastructure of the Tamil minority in North-East provinces with the commencement of the implementation of a political solution and urged to look in to the displaced persons who are crowded in North-East provinces and within the country other than foreign countries like Germany.  

  "Any unplanned influx of thousands of displaced persons into the North-East  province or even in to Colombo would necessarily bring about economic and political repercussions which might even endanger the ongoing negotiations. The returnees would themselves face security related problems".

  General Secretary of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) R. Sampanthan said that he had met a representative of the German Embassy in Colombo, and requested that the German Government reconsider its decision to deport the Tamils who had failed to gain asylum until the ethnic problem is resolved politically.  

  Batticaloa district MP of the TULF P. Selvarasa has also written to the German Ambassador requesting German authorities to reconsider their stand until the current peace talks in Colombo are completed.  

  The leaders of other Tamil political parties EPRLF, TELO and PLOTE also stated that they would urge the German authorities not to refuse asylum to Tamils at least on humanitarian grounds.

  The German Embassy in a statement said on Thursday that those who do not have any legal residence status in Germany were held in custody prior to deportation.

  For almost two decades Germany had ranked amongst the most favoured destinations for asylum seekers from Sri Lanka and for ten years Sri Lanka has equally been one of the top ten countries from which migrants have arrived and sought permanent residency. Of a total of 7.3 million foreigners in Germany 60,000 are of Sri Lankan origin.    

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