Ocean transfers of asylum-seekers expected today

A MID-OCEAN transfer of asylum-seekers from an Australian customs vessel to a Sri Lankan navy cutter could take place as early as today.

A MID-OCEAN transfer of asylum-seekers from an Australian customs vessel to a Sri Lankan navy cutter could take place as early as today as the two boats sail towards a high seas rendezvous, a Sri Lankan navy official has said.

The Australian understands the transfer of as many as 50 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers, intercepted by Australian authorities near Cocos Islands at the weekend, will take place in international waters, though closer to Sri Lanka’s extended economic zone.

The Sri Lankan navy’s official spokesman, Commodore Kosila, confirmed late on Tuesday that a Sri Lankan asylum boat had been intercepted and would be transferred into Sri Lankan custody, though he would not confirm how, or where, the handover would take place.

But another senior Sri Lankan navy official said yesterday: “They expect to rendezvous ­tomorrow.

“I don’t think it will be in Sri Lankan waters but out at sea. It’s quite a long distance and probably both boats have their own endurance problems.”

Sri Lankan human rights lawyer Lakshan Dias said the logic behind a mid-ocean transfer was more likely to be deniability than endurance for the Australian government, which was acting in a “radically illegal” way and ­violating international law.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has refused to confirm whether Australian authorities have intercepted any asylum boats in recent days, and referred to official Sri Lankan navy confirmation that a handover would take place as “speculative”.

Mr Dias said if the handover happened in international waters and no one was there to witness it, both governments could claim the asylum-seekers were rescued after experiencing boat trouble.

“The violation is by the Australian government which is blocking the legal movement of people in international waters,” he said.

“You can’t blame the Sri Lankan government. Australia is Sri Lanka’s best friend at the moment. They support them in international forums, they have donated coastguard boats, and so if your friend asks you for a favour you try to help. Australia won’t want to come into a Sri Lankan port to hand over these people because it would tarnish their image.”

In late 2009 the Australian government faced an embarrassing weeks-long stand-off after Sri Lankan asylum-seekers rescued by the Customs vessel Oceanic ­Viking and taken to Indonesia ­refused to leave the boat. The Oceanic Viking was decommissioned in 2011. Its replacement, the Ocean Protector, disappeared from view off the coast of Christmas Island on ­Sunday morning.

The SLNS Samudura, which was involved in a 2012 mid-ocean transfer of 28 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers rescued from international shipping lanes by a French merchant supertanker at the Australian government’s behest, is believed to have left harbour on Tuesday. Refugee advocates in both countries have decried the ­illegality of turning around asylum-seekers before they have had the chance to be processed for eligibility.

But new reports suggest Australian immigration officials may have surmounted that problem by screening all 50 asylum-seekers on board another Customs boat, ACV Triton, via video link to interpreters in the department’s Sydney and Melbourne offices.

Australian National University international law professor Don Rothwell said Australia could legitimately return people to the country they fled if they wanted to return or when they did not have legitimate reasons for trying to reach Australia under the Refugee Convention.

“But the difficulty with that is whether or not the persons in question have been able to make a proper asylum claim,” he said.

Any swift “screening” of asylum-seekers at sea before they were transferred from Australian authorities to the Sri Lankan navy would likely raise questions.

“I think that many people who work in the refugee advocacy area would question whether assessment of an asylum claim in the absence of legal advice and the capacity to exercise a right of appeal is proper.”

The whereabouts of as many as 153 asylum-seekers on board a second boat spotted near Christmas Island last Friday, is unknown.

Additional Reporting: Rosie Lewis