Secure all refugees- Amnesty International

Amnesty International has called on the Sri Lankan government to ensure that the more than 1,100 refugees and asylum-seekers forced from their homes by violent mobs in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday massacre are immediately provided with adequate security, food, shelter and health care.

Issuing a statement South Asia Director at Amnesty International Amnesty International Biraj Patnaik said the government has a responsibility to ensure the dignity of refugees and asylum seekers is restored immediately.

The organisation accordingly called on the government to provide effective security and relocate refugees and asylum-seekers for an interim period to temporary shelters, ensure the fulfillment of basic needs including sanitary facilities and to ensure that no refugees or asylum-seekers are forcibly returned to countries of origin or any other place where they would be at real risk of serious human rights violations.

The organisation meanwhile called on the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to expedite asylum claims and appeals taking into account the needs of people at particular risk and allocate necessary resources to UNHCR’s operations in Sri Lanka, including the provision of protection officers and translators.

Amnesty International also called on the international community to increase the number of refugees it resettles from Sri Lanka, in consideration of the present circumstances and expedite the resettlement process, while exploring alternative pathways for the refugees and asylum-seekers to secure a future outside of Sri Lanka.