No torture. All Tamils welcome back – Minister [March 22, 2006- 11.15 GMT]

Refuting claims of returning asylum seekers being detained and tortured in Sri Lanka, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera says that Sri Lankan Tamils are much safer here than in parts of Europe, where they are subjected to intimidation, extortions etc. He stresses that Sri Lanka is the only country with a Human Rights Minister.

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera speaking on line for Asia Today (Monday, March 20) refuted allegations concerning reports of detention and torture of asylum seekers returning to Sri Lanka, saying “…it is a preposterous and desperate allegation because I can say with responsibility that Sri Lanka does not have any political refugees at all. Certainly economic refugees but not political.”

On Sunday (March 19) hundreds of people attended a rally in London’s Trafalgar Square aimed at stopping plans by the British Government to deport Sri Lankan asylum seekers from the UK. The organizers claimed that up to 10,000 are held up in detention centers in Sri Lanka awaiting their fate.

Responding to the queries regarding this issue, Minister Samaraweera said, “Whether it is Tamil or Sinhalese or Muslim, Sri Lanka has its doors wide open to all its citizens living anywhere in the world. In fact I would say that most Sri Lankan Tamils are much safer in Sri Lanka than in parts of Europe, since you know thy are subjected to intimidations, extortions etc, and I would also like to express the fact that Sri Lanka is a signatory to the UN Convention on Torture. We are also a signatory to the ICCPR that is the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

Minister Samaraweera answering the question as to whether the Government would want to question certain people coming back into the country if they were Tamil, due to the Tamil Tiger situation at the moment, said, “No. I mean there are from time to time, people coming into the country may be questioned if they have any criminal background or suspected to have a criminal background, but I certainly can say that they are not questioned for the simple reason that they are Tamil.”

He further stressed that Sri Lanka is the only country which has a Human Rights Minister and that all the allegations were made up so as to ensure continued refugee status in the UK and Europe.

The Foreign Minister concluded with, “I would with responsibility say again that all Tamil citizens are welcome back to Sri Lanka and we can assure that there will be no torture or any harassment whatsoever.”


 

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Last Updated Date: March 22, 2006 -11.15 GMT