The Hon. Rauff Hakeem, Attorney-at-Law
Hon. Rauff Hakeem argued against refouling refugees who arrived by boat, noting that payment for passage does not negate their refugee status and referring to violence in their country of origin. He said returning them, particularly families with small children, would be a serious violation, and proposed arranging transfer to a third country through the UNHCR, as done previously by Sri Lankan governments.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, the Minister spoke about people paying to come by boat. Refugees do not always arrive without paying; the world knows the violence in that country. Refouling them, especially those who arrived with small children, would be a grave crime. If necessary, arrangements should be made via the UNHCR for transfer to a third country, as our Governments have done before. That is our point.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Wednesday, 8 January 2025 ·No. 1737023464031571 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Rauff Hakeem, Attorney-at-Law. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 8 January 2025. No. 1737023464031571. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/27660