Sixty-four migrants from Sri Lanka were deported from Reunion to their country early on Thursday morning. A total of 70 Sri Lankan nationals docked on the French Indian Ocean island on 5 February.
Only six of them “were admitted to the territory. Their asylum application will be considered by the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra),” the prefecturesaid.
Rejected asylum applications
The remaining 64 asylum applications were rejected by Ofpra and this decision was upheld by the Administrative Court on Wednesday evening. The previous day, the Court of Appeal had confirmed their confinement in the waiting area.
Escorted by 68 police and gendarmes, the Sri Lankan nationals travelled on a plane of the regional airline Air Austral, specially chartered by the state. The approximately six-hour flight was non-stop to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. The migrants, including at least six women and five children, were handed over to local authorities immediately after landing.
“Illegal immigration channels”
Since March 2018, six migrant boats have attempted to dock on the French island, although cases have previously been non-existent.
“There are clearly illegal immigration channels at work,” Frédéric Joram, secretary general of reunion Prefecture, said in late December. In January, the Secretary of State to the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuez, said that several ships had been “prevented from leaving Sri Lanka for Reunion.”
