Call for end to Tamil deportations
Following the renewed violence in Sri Lanka, the Swiss Refugee Council has called on the government to suspend deportations of failed asylum seekers to that country.
In a statement, the organisation pointed out that most Sri Lankan asylum seekers in Switzerland were Tamils from the war-torn north and west of the country.
The Council also urged Swiss authorities to expedite asylum applications received at the Swiss embassy in Colombo.
“There is no longer any region in Sri Lanka where those fleeing the violence can find safety,” the statement said. The number of displaced persons is estimated to be between 500,000 and one million.
Last weekend, an association of Tamils in Switzerland called for the suspension of aid to Sri Lanka. Tamil Forum Switzerland claimed that the money would be used to finance war on the island.
The ceasefire between the government and the Tamil Tigers formally ended last Thursday after six years. Fighting had been going on in the north and east of the island for around two years despite the truce.
Some 32,000 Sri Lankans live in Switzerland, 10,000 of whom are naturalised Swiss.
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