This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/23/india-seeks-access-tamil-asylum-seekers
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| India seeks access to 157 Tamil asylum seekers being held at sea by Australia | India seeks access to 157 Tamil asylum seekers being held at sea by Australia |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| India has sought consular access to the 157 Tamils on board an Australian border protection vessel, following a visit to New Delhi by Australia’s immigration minister where he formally requested that India take back the group of asylum seekers. | India has sought consular access to the 157 Tamils on board an Australian border protection vessel, following a visit to New Delhi by Australia’s immigration minister where he formally requested that India take back the group of asylum seekers. |
| A senior Indian government official told the Guardian they were seeking to determine whether any of those on board held Indian citizenship. | A senior Indian government official told the Guardian they were seeking to determine whether any of those on board held Indian citizenship. |
| A diplomat from the Indian high commission in Australia was due to be dispatched to speak to the asylum seekers face-to-face. | A diplomat from the Indian high commission in Australia was due to be dispatched to speak to the asylum seekers face-to-face. |
| “If they are Indian it is not an issue. It is their country and they will come back, but we will have to see. At the moment their nationality is unclear,” the source said. “We need to treat them in a humanitarian manner, especially as there are children among them. We are beginning the process.” | “If they are Indian it is not an issue. It is their country and they will come back, but we will have to see. At the moment their nationality is unclear,” the source said. “We need to treat them in a humanitarian manner, especially as there are children among them. We are beginning the process.” |
| Scott Morrison met the Indian external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj, and the home affairs minister, Rajnath Singh, at parliament house in Delhi on Tuesday. They discussed “all issues of illegal migration”, according to the Indian high commission in Canberra. | Scott Morrison met the Indian external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj, and the home affairs minister, Rajnath Singh, at parliament house in Delhi on Tuesday. They discussed “all issues of illegal migration”, according to the Indian high commission in Canberra. |
| The Times of India reported government sources saying they had only been recently approached over the 157 Tamils. Guardian Australia understands from a number of sources that the Australian government had originally intended to send those on board to Sri Lanka. | The Times of India reported government sources saying they had only been recently approached over the 157 Tamils. Guardian Australia understands from a number of sources that the Australian government had originally intended to send those on board to Sri Lanka. |
| A high court hearing in Melbourne into the legality of the asylum seekers ongoing detention ruled on Wednesday that a full bench hearing should begin on 5 August. It is expected to last for two days. | A high court hearing in Melbourne into the legality of the asylum seekers ongoing detention ruled on Wednesday that a full bench hearing should begin on 5 August. It is expected to last for two days. |
| Justice Kenneth Hayne again requested that the matter be dealt with quickly. Throughout the case he has expressed concern at the length of detention of the Tamils. | Justice Kenneth Hayne again requested that the matter be dealt with quickly. Throughout the case he has expressed concern at the length of detention of the Tamils. |
| The boat carrying the asylum seekers was intercepted by an Australian customs vessel on 29 June in Australia’s contiguous zone. Guardian Australia understands this was 16 nautical miles from Christmas Island, which lies in the Indian Ocean off the north-west coast of Australia. | The boat carrying the asylum seekers was intercepted by an Australian customs vessel on 29 June in Australia’s contiguous zone. Guardian Australia understands this was 16 nautical miles from Christmas Island, which lies in the Indian Ocean off the north-west coast of Australia. |
| The boat departed Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu around 11 June, which means those on board have been at sea for a month and a half, spending more than three weeks in Australian custody. | The boat departed Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu around 11 June, which means those on board have been at sea for a month and a half, spending more than three weeks in Australian custody. |
| According to UNHCR statistics, India housed almost 190,000 refugees in 2013, five times more than Australia. There are estimated to be more than 100,000 displaced Sri Lankan Tamils in Tamil Nadu. They mostly live in around 100 government-run camps. | According to UNHCR statistics, India housed almost 190,000 refugees in 2013, five times more than Australia. There are estimated to be more than 100,000 displaced Sri Lankan Tamils in Tamil Nadu. They mostly live in around 100 government-run camps. |
| The Guardian understands the asylum seekers are being held on the Australian customs vessel Ocean Protector. | The Guardian understands the asylum seekers are being held on the Australian customs vessel Ocean Protector. |
| They are being held in locked rooms in three groups – resulting in families being split up. They have no qualified interpreters, although three speak English, and they are allowed around three hours of sunlight, according to the government’s defence in the high court case. | They are being held in locked rooms in three groups – resulting in families being split up. They have no qualified interpreters, although three speak English, and they are allowed around three hours of sunlight, according to the government’s defence in the high court case. |
| The Guardian has published the only public photographs of conditions for detained asylum seekers on board the Ocean Protector. They reveal cramped and windowless rooms with metal bunks that stack four high. | The Guardian has published the only public photographs of conditions for detained asylum seekers on board the Ocean Protector. They reveal cramped and windowless rooms with metal bunks that stack four high. |
| Samuel Chelvanayakam Chandrahasan, a campaigner for rights for the Sri Lankan Tamil refugee community in India, said relatives of the refugees were "worried and disturbed" and had told him they had had no contact with their loved ones since Australian authorities had seized the vessel. | |
| Fifty of the 157 people on the boat had been living in government-run refugee camps in Tamil Nadu State, in southern India, Chandrahasan said. Another 40 had come more recently from Sri Lanka and had found accommodation in a fishing village close to Keeluputhupattu refugee camp, in Viluppuram district in Tamil Nadu. | |
| "These people had come from Sri Lanka for this boat mission and were staying there in the village," Chandrahasan told the Guardian. The identity of the others on the boat remains unclear. | |
| At least one of those on the boat had been living in India but had recently returned to Sri Lanka looking for work. However "disappointed with his livelihood", he had returned to India before taking the boat. | |
| "The people in the camps had some link to those who did the people smuggling. All the ones we know about on the boat are Sri Lankan nationals. We have no information on Indian citizens," Chandrahasan said. | |
| The Australian government has been heavily criticised by the UN for its hardline, military-led border regime. | The Australian government has been heavily criticised by the UN for its hardline, military-led border regime. |
| The UNHCR said it was "deeply concerned" when Australia handed over 41 Sri Lankan asylum seekers straight to the Sri Lankan navy in an on-water transfer after their claims for protection were heard in a speeded up process by satellite phone earlier in the month. The Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, came to office on a promise of "stopping the boats" and has pursued an aggressive campaign of deterrence. The decision not to let the boat carrying the 157 Tamils, including 37 children, arrive in Australia was made by the government's national security committee, which is tasked with "major interest of international security". Abbott's critics argue he has refused to allow the asylum seekers to land for domestic political gain. The government is celebrating over six months "without a successful people smuggling venture". | The UNHCR said it was "deeply concerned" when Australia handed over 41 Sri Lankan asylum seekers straight to the Sri Lankan navy in an on-water transfer after their claims for protection were heard in a speeded up process by satellite phone earlier in the month. The Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, came to office on a promise of "stopping the boats" and has pursued an aggressive campaign of deterrence. The decision not to let the boat carrying the 157 Tamils, including 37 children, arrive in Australia was made by the government's national security committee, which is tasked with "major interest of international security". Abbott's critics argue he has refused to allow the asylum seekers to land for domestic political gain. The government is celebrating over six months "without a successful people smuggling venture". |