Britain moves to deport Tamil torture survivor

A young torture victim is in fear of being detained and then deported to Sri Lanka where his life will be under threat.
Janahan Sivanathan (age 22) was detained at Morton Hall, Lincolnshire when he went to report to the Home Office last Monday 1 June.
Campaign group Tamil Solidarity says that he should not have been detained in the first place especially when he has never been given an opportunity to properly put his case. Tamil Solidarity demands his right to stay and opposes all deportations of political activists to Sri Lanka.

Isai from Tamil Solidarity explains: “After Janahan was detained hundreds of people including leading trade unionists, MPs and other activists supported a petition demanding his release and the end to all deportations of political activists to Sri Lanka. Under this immense pressure the Home Office suddenly released Janahan on Friday but he has been asked to report back to Home Office this Friday 12 June. There is a possibility that he could be detained again despite his case being due to be heard in court on 15 July.
“Janahan experienced detention and torture during the war in Sri Lanka that ended in 2009. Unsurprisingly his mental health is suffering. Keeping him in the prison-like environment in the Immigration Removal Centre has made this worse. But Janahan is also a fighter for human rights. He went from his release to bring solidarity to a conference of the bakers’ union BFAWU and to build the campaign against deportations of political activists.

“Amnesty International and other research shows that Sri Lanka is not a safe place to send back those who have fled that country to save their lives. Following on from his the campaign, Janahan’s photo and story have featured in all the major Tamil media and Sri Lankan national news. This makes it even more dangerous for Janahan to be deported to Sri Lanka. We fear that on return to Sri Lanka he will be certain of being arrested, imprisoned or even worse.”

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