Photo: Jim McIlroy
Protesters picketed a December 1 event in Red Hill addressed by Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia Thisara Samarasinghe. The protest was organised by the Refugee Action Collective to condemn Samarasinghe, a former navy admiral accused of war crimes against the Tamil people in northern Sri Lanka, and the appalling human rights record of the Sri Lankan government.
The central themes of the protest were: "Support human rights in Sri Lanka”, “Support refugee rights” and “No deportations to danger". Tamil asylum seekers in Australia face the threat of return to Sri Lanka, despite the danger of murder or imprisonment on their arrival.