Australia based Tamil Refugee Council urged the Australian government to release hospitalised Sri Lankan Tamil refugee Rajan from detention. The council also demanded the Aussie government to grant a permanent protection visa for the refugee.
In a press note, the council says, “The Tamil Refugee Council is holding a vigil for Rajan, a Tamil refugee from Sri Lanka, at 3pm Sunday outside the Northern Hospital in Epping, New South Wales.
Rajan developed Leukaemia several years ago and has been hospitalised for neutropenia – a low white blood cell count – which puts him at high risk of infection and sepsis. Rajan has been detained by the Australian government for eleven years, despite being recognised as a refugee in 2010.
During that time, the government has repeatedly rejected Rajan’s pleas to be released into the community. Since 2020 he has been receiving chemotherapy. He also suffers from a range of other conditions.
Rajan’s family in Sri Lanka has been continuously harassed by the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) asking for Rajan to return to the country. In 2019, the International Truth and Justice Project detailed several Tamil victims of torture at the hands of CID officers.
In 2015, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights investigation report on Sri Lanka reported strong evidence that the CID tortures Tamils. The report states:
“The CID ‘Fourth Floor’ detention facility in Colombo had rooms that were set up with torture equipment, illustrating the premeditated and systematic nature of the use of torture by units of the Sri Lankan security forces.”
