TAMIL EELAM STRUGGLE FOR
FREEDOM
Tamil Refugees & Asylum
Seekers
"Exile is not primarily a
geographical location, it is a state of
mind through which one becomes what one has
left behind. In the Tamil case many
actually become what they have fled from.
Between the extremes of the warrior and the
victim the refugee must carry out his
'bricolage', assemble the pieces and carry
on. For many this life project takes the
form of internalised martyrdom, the fight
for Eelam being replaced by a longing for
Eelam which grows into a constant part of
the personality and becomes a
counterweight, the
counterweight, to the vicissitudes of
exile..." Oivind Fuglerud in Life on the
Outside : The Tamil Diaspora and
Long-Distance Nationalism
"Exile, it is often
said, is the nursery of nationalism. If so,
then the yearning for a homeland has a long
history.." Anthony D.Smith
in*Chosen Peoples: Sacred
Sources of National Identity,
2004
|
Genocide'83 led thousands of Tamils
from the island of Sri Lanka to seek political
asylum in Tamil Nadu, Europe, North America and
Australasia. During the succeeding years, as the
conflict in the island increased in intensity, this
outflow continued. Article 1A(2) of the
International Convention relating to the Status
of Refugees defines a refugee as a person
who
".......as a result of events occurring
before 1 January 1951 and owing to well-founded
fear of being persecuted for reasons of race,
religion, nationality, membership of a particular
social group or political opinion, is outside the
country of his nationality and is unable, or
owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself
of the protection of that country; or who, not
having a nationality and being outside the
country of his former habitual residence as a
result of such events, is unable or, owing to
such fear, is unwilling to return to
it."
Except for seven states (Brazil, Italy,
Madagascar, Malta, Monaco, Paraguay and Turkey),
all other parties to the Convention apply the
refugee definition without
geographical or time limitation.
Additionally, the Convention
relating to the status of Stateless Persons,
the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of
Refugees , the Declaration on Territorial
Asylum , and the Declaration on the Human Rights
of Individuals Who are not Nationals of the Country
in which They Live provide the international
legal frame work relating to refugees and asylum
seekers.
During 1984 and 1985, Amnesty
International opposed the refoulement of Tamils.
On 9
January 1985 Amnesty announced that it believes
that, if returned against their will,
all members of the
Tamil minority have reasonable grounds to
fear:
1. that they may fall victim to
arbitrary killings by members of the security
forces
2. that they may be subjected to arbitrary
arrest and detention
But, more often not, the efforts of
Charter
'87 and Amnesty International notwithstanding,
the implementation of the law relating to refugees
and asylum seekers has been largely influenced by
policy considerations and real politick (both in
the West and in India).
David Matas wrote in Canada in
November 1984:
"Refugee claimants are among the most
wretched people in Canada. They have fled
countries where they have been imprisoned for
their beliefs, they may have been tortured, their
lives may have been threatened. They know no one
or almost no one in Canada. They normally cannot
speak either French or English. A refugee claim
can take years to process before a final
determination is reached. Until a person is
recognised as a refugee, he is not recognised as
a resident, even though he may be here for years.
Despite his lengthy stay, he is treated as if he
will be leaving in a week or two."
Nirmala Chandrahasan
in her well researched 'Study of
the Reception of Tamil Asylum Seekers into Europe,
North America and India' during the four year
period 1983 to 1987 (published in the
Harvard Human Rights Yearbook, Spring 1989),
commented:
"During this period the greatest number
of Tamils - approximately 130,000 - sought asylum
in India, separated from the northern start of
Sri Lanka by a narrow stretch of sea, the Palk
Straits. Approximately 70,000 Tamil asylum
seekers went to Europe and North
America."
She concluded:
"The treatment of Tamil asylum claims in
different jurisdictions highlights two important
points about recent developments in the handling
of refugees. First, the reception of Tamils in
North America, Europe and India indicates the
extent to which national policy
perspectives have shaped the respective
refugee determination processes. .. A second
development observed in the practice of
Tamil-receiving states is the categorisation of
the refugees allowed to stay into subgroups, such
as "B status" (in the Netherlands) or
"exceptional leave to remain" (in the United
Kingdom) or with no designated legal status at
all (in India). ..The question remains to what
extent the fate of large groups of persons such
as the Tamils can be left to the discretion of
governments, rather than firmly based within a
framework of binding legal norms."
Since 1987, the numbers of Tamil asylum
seekers have continued to increase together with a
growing determination of Western governments to
stem the flow.
"Tamil refugees have a special place in
British immigration law and practice over the last
few years. Their arrival has provoked restrictive
new laws and practices which have tightened British
immigration control and made it harsher and less
humane for other non-European settlers and refugees
as well as Tamils." (Closed Doors: New Restrictions on
the Rights of Asylum Seekers - Anne Owers -
1988)
Tamil Asylum Seekers Protesting at London
Heathrow, February 1987
|
Even after the Indo Sri Lanka Accord of
1987, Amnesty International continued to
emphasise that there was considerable uncertainty
about the safety of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
In 1990, the Minority Rights Group in London,
profiled the case of Seenithamby Javanarajah,
an asylum seeker, who was deported to Sri Lanka by
the British authorities and was tortured on his
return to the island.
"During his forced return to Sri Lanka
Javanarajah travelled to Jaffna where the Indian
Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) was responsible for
security. A month after his arrival he was
detained by the IPKF and made to appear before
three hooded informants' one of whom nodded his
head when Javanarajah appeared. He was then taken
to an IPKF camp, where he was detained,
interrogated, kicked and beaten with pipes. He
was severely beaten three more times over the
next seven days and it was only aver 10 weeks of
detention that this family managed to secure his
release by bribery."
The presence of Tamil asylum seekers in
Germany and Switzerland, brought with it overt
racist attacks. In 1991, one Tamil woman asylum
seeker was killed in Germany. Widespread protest meetings
were held by Tamil associations.
In early 1994 ( in a well documented
appeal ), the Swiss Federation of Tamil Associations
called upon the Swiss authorities to reconsider
their decision to forcibly repatriate Tamil asylum
seekers to Sri Lanka and pointed out:
"On 6 October 1993, an European
Parliamentary delegation which visited Sri Lanka
told the Colombo Press that ''the current
situation in Sri Lanka was not conducive for
Western governments to return asylum seekers''.
These views give the lie direct to the claims
sometimes made on behalf of the Sri Lanka
government that '' the widespread human rights
abuses of the last few years have sharply
declined and that the Sri Lanka Government have
taken measures to protect the human rights of all
its citizens as a result of pressure from bodies
such as Amnesty International and donor
governments."
The Appeal added:
"May we respectfully say that instead
of sending back Tamil asylum seekers to face
detention, torture and death in Sri Lanka, the
Swiss authorities and others with a liberal
conscience should use their not inconsiderable
influence and power, to persuade the Sri Lanka
government to address the underlying causes of
the conflict and recognise the right of the Tamil
people to live in their own home land, free from
the oppressive rule of a Sinhala dominated Sri
Lanka government. "
Again, perhaps not surprisingly, the
United States has adopted a particularly
restrictive approach to Tamil refugee applicants. (
United
States Court Rejects Tamil Asylum Claim -
1995 ).
However, the case of Balaranjini
Ratnam was an exception to the general
approach.
The plight faced by some Tamil asylum
seekers was brought to public attention by a 36
year old Tamil asylum seeker in Sweden setting
himself on fire on 2 March 1994. The action of the
Tamil asylum seeker in Sweden in preferring death,
even by fire, to a forced deportation to Sri Lanka
shows in stark terms the oppressive ground reality
in Colombo and elsewhere in the island of Sri
Lanka. ( Tamil Asylum Seeker sets himself on fire
in Sweden - March 1994)
On 10 August 1996, the BBC reported an
interview with Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Lakshman
Kadirgamar:
"There is no discrimination against Tamils in the
country nor is there any danger to their
lives, Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar
told foreign media personnel recently... (In
response to a) question as to the exact truth of
the claims made by the Tamil youths overseas who
complain that they were discriminated against due
to fact that they were Tamils and their lives
were in danger, Minister Kadirgamar in his reply
said that they make these complaints so that they
could seek political asylum in foreign lands.
They are, in actual fact, economic refugees..."
Whilst the British Refugee Council
publication Sri Lanka Monitor has taken pains to
report fairly on the Tamil refugee situation, the
United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees has played an increasingly
controversial role in relation to Tamil asylum
seekers and has been criticised for being
influenced more by real politick than by
humanitarian considerations. The British
Refugee Council Sri Lanka Monitor
reported in September 1997:
"UNHCR declares in a March Information Note
that orderly and safe return of rejected
asylum-seekers to their country of origin could
safeguard the principle of asylum for those who
genuinely need protection. UNHCR further says
that rejected asylum-seekers are not singled out
at Colombo airport or later and people are
treated fairly and humanely during Army security
checks.
Human rights agencies say that Colombo
conditions for Tamils have hardly changed since
the British Refugee Council mission in December
last year and its report in February. The
situation remains precarious for Tamils with the
continuing LTTE threat to the capital. President
Chandrika Kumaratunge herself said in August that
she was aware of innocent Tamils being detained
by security forces for ransom. London-based human
rights agency Amnesty International, during its
August visit, uncovered evidence of widespread
torture, including in Colombo.
Observers say UNHCR's position is prompted by
considerations other than the real situation in
Colombo. They point to a recently leaked December
1993 internal UNHCR memo from the agency's Sri
Lankan Resident Representative to its Geneva
headquarters acknowledging that the security
situation for Tamils in Colombo had been
deteriorating as evidenced by increased
arrests.
The memo advises against freezing UNHCR
guidelines, which permit Western governments to
repatriate Sri Lankan asylum-seekers, on the
grounds that frozen guidelines would be difficult
to reinstate. Freezing the guidelines would upset
the Sri Lankan authorities and in order to
reinstate the guidelines the burden of proof that
the situation had improved would fall on
UNHCR.
The recommendation to continue the guidelines
had been taken, according to the memo, on the
request of the then Sri Lankan Presidential
Advisor Bradman Weerakoon who had pointed out
that the human rights implications of a UNHCR
statement would far outweigh the consequences of
deportations. The memo also says that political
implications vis a vis the Sri Lankan government
of any UNHCR statement need to be carefully
weighed, particularly since it would be used in
courts in asylum countries."
The UNHCR stand paved the way for further
deportations of Tamil asylum seekers from
Europe.
"The governments of Sri Lanka and
the Netherlands signed an agreement on 10
September for the forcible repatriation of
rejected asylum-seekers deepening insecurity
among 350,000 Tamil refugees across the
world.
Some 350 asylum-seekers will be returned to
Sri Lanka in the next twelve months and the pact
is due for review in September next year. Sri
Lankan authorities have agreed to issue identity
documents to refugees who do not have any travel
papers.
The agreement for the return of Sri Lankan
asylum-seekers is the second in Europe. Under a
January 1994 pact between the Swiss and the Sri
Lankan governments 696 rejected refugees have
been repatriated in the last 33 months.
In the first eight months of 1997 Netherlands
received 14,145 refugees, an increase of 28%
compared to 1996, some 1,300 of them from Sri
Lanka. A plane carrying 173 Sri Lankan refugees
arrived in Amsterdam's Schipol airport in
February from the Turkmenistan capital of
Ashkhabad causing a furore and allegations of
abuse of the asylum system.
Over 15,000 Sri Lankans have sought refuge in
the Netherlands since 1984. The Dutch Foreign
Affairs minister has concluded that the situation
in Colombo is safe for Tamils and quoting
international refugee agency UNHCR, claims that
those repatriated from other European nations in
1996 and 1997 have had no problem in the Sri
Lankan capital.
Refugees are concerned that other European
nations may follow suit. Introduction of stricter
asylum laws and procedures continue and less than
5% of Sri Lankans are granted UN Convention
refugee status in European countries. Several
nations, including Denmark and Norway, are
deporting Sri Lankans even without formal
agreements.
The Danish police have listed 154 Tamils who
are in hiding after Denmark began deportations
late last year. Sweden introduced a new type of
air ticket visa in September for citizens of
twelve countries, including Sri Lanka."
(British Refugee Council, Sri Lanka Monitor,
September 1997)
Tamil asylum-seekers in custody for some ten
months in detention centres in Australia staged a
hunger strike on 12 October 1997 against prolonged
detention.
"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.In the meantime, the Sri Lanka
government has continued to persist in its denial
that Tamils have a well founded fear of
persecution if they return to the island.
(British Refugee Council, Sri Lanka Monitor,
October 1997)
On 18 August 1998, Denmark signed a repatriation
agreement with Sri Lanka. The British Refugee
Council, Sri Lanka Monitor,
reported in September 1998:
"Despite increasing signs of tension in the
capital, and warnings from human rights
organisations, the Danish government has signed a
repatriation pact with Sri Lanka. Denmark became
the third European country on 18 August to sign
an agreement with Sri Lanka for the repatriation
of rejected asylum-seekers, following the
examples of Switzerland and Netherlands. A number
of Sri Lankans had been returned before the
agreement was signed.
The repatriation will be phased and the accord
envisages the return of 350 asylum-seekers in the
first year. ... Two weeks earlier, Emergency rule
was extended to the whole of Sri Lanka. NGOs have
highlighted the unsafe conditions in Colombo and
other parts of the island for Tamils and the
continuing violations of human rights."
The Colombo based Human Rights Action
Committee ( [email protected] ) in a Press
Release on 8 April 1999 declared:
"Veluppillai Balachandran, a
39 year old Tamil refugee, killed himself on the
23rd March 1999, rather than be deported to Sri
Lanka. He had previously staged a hunger strike
to attract attention to his plight while he was
held in the deportation prison (in Moers - NRW)
and he had given several warnings to the courts
and to the authorities in the deportation prison
that he would kill himself rather than be
deported to be tortured by the racist Sri Lankan
military. Mr. Balachandran's suicide is a tragic
indictment of the asylum process in Ger-many
where a Tamil who clearly had a "well founded
fear of persecution" was rejected as a genuine
refugee and thereby left with no option but to
kill himself."
The British Refugee
Council Sri Lanka Monitor
commenting on the plight of Tamil
asylum seekers in Germany said:
"Sources say at least 50 Sri Lankan
asylum-seekers have been deported from Germany in
the last six months. The UK-based National
Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns says
asylum-seeker V Balachandran, 39, committed
suicide in a German prison on 23 March, before
deportation to Sri Lanka.
The German Foreign Ministry claims that the
700 people disappeared in
Jaffna in 1996 were LTTE cadre who had
infiltrated the peninsula after its capture by
the Army. The Ministry further claims that the
Sri Lankan authorities implement the Emergency regulations
and the Prevention of Terrorism Act in a
pragmatic way and regarding torture, have taken steps to
improve the situation.
But the US State Department reports that
security forces continue to torture and mistreat
detainees and the government has not made
regulations under torture law to prosecute
security personnel. In a March Background Paper,
UNHCR, quoting sources, reports on torture, disappearances, extra-judicial executions and
mass arrests of Tamils in
Colombo.
UNHCR continues its "passive" or indirect
monitoring of rejected Sri Lankan asylum-seekers
from Switzerland and informally assists Denmark
and Netherlands to check on returned refugees.
UNHCR also receives information regarding refugee
returns from Norway. UNHCR reiterates its view
that Sri Lankan asylum-seekers whose claims have
been processed through full and fair procedures
and found not to fulfil the refugee criteria may
be returned safely to Sri Lanka. This, UNHCR
adds, does not obviate other reasons for
non-return such as is contemplated under the UN
Convention on Torture."
|