CCPR/C/133/D/3212/2018 Advance unedited version
to Sri Lanka.1 The State party was therefore unable to implement the Committee’s request
for interim measures.
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
The author is of Tamil ethnicity and was born in 1988 in Vavuniya, Sri Lanka. He
submits that his father was a member of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and was killed by
the Sri Lankan authorities on an unspecified date. He further asserts that one of his brothers
also suffered violent death on an unspecified date. In addition, another of his brothers was
detained, interrogated and beaten up by the Sri Lankan authorities on the grounds of his
perceived affiliation with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.2 His brother was later released,
but he had to regularly report to the police.
2.2
In 2006, the author’s mother arranged for his travel to Malaysia because it was
dangerous for him to stay in Sri Lanka. In 2008, the author was expelled from Malaysia
because of his unlawful stay. On an unspecified date after his return to Sri Lanka, the
authorities came to his home as they wanted to know where he had been, as well as the
whereabouts of his brother, who, in the meantime, went missing. He was requested to report
to the police station where he was beaten so severely that he needed to be hospitalized.
2.3
The author notes that between 2010 and 2011 he was interrogated by the authorities
on several occasions. In 2012, a group of men came to his home and took him to the Criminal
Investigation Department office where he was beaten and his fingernails were pierced to
force him to falsely confess that he supported the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. A few
days later, he was blindfolded and driven to an unknown location where he was left on the
side of the road. Two days after he had been released, he left Sri Lanka with the help of a
friend.
2.4
The author arrived in Australia in June 2012 as an irregular maritime arrival. He
lodged an application for a protection visa on 2 November 2012.
2.5
The author also submits that while he was in Australia, Criminal Investigation
Department officers of Sri Lanka went to his home to inquire about his whereabouts on
multiple occasions.
2.6
The author’s wife was also born in Sri Lanka and arrived in Australia in September
2012. Owing to a legislative change, which applied to asylum seekers who arrived by boat
after 13 August 2012, she was able to apply for a temporary protection visa only. That visa
does not allow for family reunification unless the other member of the family unit holds a
protection visa of the same class as that applied for by the primary asylum seeker.3
2.7
On 11 January 2013, the author’s protection visa application was refused. The author
made an application for merits review to the Refugee Review Tribunal on 16 January 2013.
On 9 September 2013, the Refugee Review Tribunal affirmed the decision of the Department
of Immigration and Border Protection not to grant the author a protection visa. On 17 March
2016, the Federal Circuit Court dismissed the author’s application for judicial review. On 22
May 2017, the author’s application for leave to appeal to the Federal Court of Australia was
rejected. On 12 October 2017, the High Court of Australia denied the author’s request for
leave to appeal.
2.8
The author married his wife on 8 September 2016. His wife lodged an application for
a Safe Haven Enterprise visa on 27 March 2017. Their daughter was born on 31 September
2017.
2.9
On 13 November 2017, the author made a request for Ministerial intervention, in
which he claimed that he should not be returned to Sri Lanka prior to the determination of
his wife’s visa application submitted on her own behalf and on behalf of their child. On 15
July 2018, the author made yet another request for Ministerial intervention, in which he
1
2
3
2
The State party asserts that the author was returned to Sri Lanka on 17 July 2018, at approximately
11.15 am (Australian Eastern Standard Time) and the Committee’s request for interim measures
arrived, via e-mail, at 6.58 pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on the same day.
The date of this incident is unspecified in the complaint.
Migration Act 1958, s. 36.