Quick Refugee update 2 - Tamil boats

Apparently the asylum seekers who approached Christmas Island in two boats are now being secretly pre-screened at sea. After answering four basic questions via video link, some will be transferred into Sri Lankan custody. (One Sri lankan naval official has confirmed this, while another has denied it.) Julian Burnside: "It is very clear the department is screening people to get them out as fast as possible and not with a view to assess whether they are refugees." Sarah Hanson-Young: There is no way that people can have their claims for protection properly assessed by immigration officials over the phone and when they are in the middle of the ocean. Not only is this a breach of international law, it is dangerous and puts people's lives at risk."

ETA: Such transfers may have been previously considered but abandoned as illegal. Formerly, when asylum seekers were returned to Sri Lanka, they would be accompanied by Australian officials for the first few days, which offered some guarantee of their immediate safety. With no information about their current location or situation, the asylum seekers' families are naturally extremely worried about them. The Human Rights Law Centre has asked the UN to intervene.