High Court injunction blocks handover of 153 asylum seekers to Sri Lanka
Poirot,
Fine, as long as it is the High Court judges paying & not us.

Scott Morrison may not be an international criminal but he's an international grub.

Dear Jay123,

Well it appears that some of our best experts in the field happen to think so.

"A statement, signed by 53 international law scholars from 17 Australian universities, said Australia’s conduct under Operation Sovereign Borders “clearly violates international law”."

“We are profoundly concerned by reports that asylum seekers are being subjected to rapid and inadequate screening interviews at sea and returned to Sri Lanka," the statement says."

"This raises a real risk of refoulement in breach of Australia’s obligations under international refugee and human rights law."

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/53-australian-lawyers-condemn-return-of-asylum-seekers-to-sri-lanka-20140707-zsz13.html#ixzz36nBo1FJr

That is good enough for me.

SteeleRedux,

Indeed.

And refoulement is exactly what we've achieved if this report from Reuters is anything to go by...

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0FC00N20140707?irpc=932

Sri Lanka asylum seekers returned by Australia face 'rigorous imprisonment'

"SYDNEY/COLOMBO (Reuters) - Forty-one Sri Lankan asylum seekers returned by Australia are to be charged with leaving the country illegally and those found guilty face "rigorous imprisonment", police said on Monday, fuelling concerns about Australian policy and rights abuses in Sri Lanka.

Australia said the 41 were transferred to Sri Lankan authorities at sea on Sunday, but declined to comment on a second boat reported to be carrying an additional 153, saying only that it was not currently in Australian waters.

Australian border patrol personnel intercepted the first vessel carrying 41 Sri Lankans west of the remote Cocos Islands last week, after they were suspected of entering Australian waters illegally.

Australia declined to give details of how the group was transported back to the site of the transfer, which Australia said was off the eastern Sri Lankan port of Batticaloa.

The Sri Lankan navy handed the group to the police and police spokesman Ajith Rohana said they would be produced before a court in the southwestern port of Galle. He did not say when.

"Everybody will be produced before the Galle magistrate," he told Reuters. "They will be charged under the Immigrants and Emigrants Act. The sentence for those proved to have left illegally is two years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine."

One wonders what delights the term "rigorous imprisonment" might denote?

What is very clear is that the UNHCR charter applies only to asylum seekers that apply for asylum in Australia, and does not apply in international waters. Similarly the interception of boats headed for Australian waters is also completely legal, and finally, the Australian courts do not have jurisdiction outside Australian territory.

The only possible way that the high court can be involved at all is to try and make the Australian ships Australian territory.

Secondly, of the 41 asylum seekers that were returned, only 4 were Tamil, the rest were not, and had no serious chance of claiming asylum.

I see the old Piorot-Redux comedy act is at it again

Shadow Minister made the telling point that:
<< of the 41 asylum seekers that were returned, only 4 were Tamil, the rest were not...>>

But he missed another telling point:
ABC AM (07/07/14) reports that the ONE illegal who might have merited further investigation, when told he would have wait on Manus Island till his processing was completed--OPTED TO RETURN TO SRI LANKA.

So much for fleeing in fear of his life --what a joke!