Refugee Update

The High Court challenge on behalf of the 157 asylum seekers held at sea will now focus on the legality of their being sent to India or Sri Lanka. Their lawyer: "The High Court will be asked to consider whether it is legal for the government to send the asylum seekers back to the country they are fleeing from or to a country where they face a risk of refoulment [ie being returned from India to Sri Lanka]." The interviewing of the asylum seekers by officials from India, a country which is not party to the Refugee Convention, is unprecedented of questionable legality.