No refuge

TAMIL asylum-seekers in custody for some ten months in detention centres in Australia staged a hunger strike on 12 October against prolonged detention. Their asylum applications were denied by the Refugee Review Tribunal. They have appealed to the Federal Court and are likely to remain in detention until their cases are heard. Tamil refugee organisations say such detention is a violation of human rights and have appealed to Immigration and Multicultural minister Philip Ruddock. Australian press reports say new legislation is currently being considered to deny appeals to refused asylum-seekers. In July the Immigration Department introduced a charge of $1,000 on unsuccessful applications before leave to appeal was granted. Some 640 applications from Tamils are said to be pending. In July 17 Tamils were found stranded at Coral Bay, 700 miles north of Perth.

There is increasing concern over the plight of Sri Lankans who are stranded in other countries. The Tamil Refugee International Network (TRIN) estimates that over 20,000 Sri Lankans are stranded in over 12 countries in South-East Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe, including 5,000 in Russia and 5,000 in Thailand. According to reports, around 1,500 foreigners including 234 Sri Lankans are held in a Lithuanian Army camp. A young couple who returned to Sri Lanka blame their travel agent for the harrowing journey through Moscow and Minsk in Belorussia. They were transported in a container and locked-up in a barn for nine days with meagre food. They walked many miles in the bitter cold before reaching Poland through Lithuania but were arrested and returned to the Army camp in the Baltic state. After receiving some money from relatives in Denmark they were returned to Sri Lanka through Moscow.

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