Swiss justice minister signs immigration treaty with Sri Lanka

The Swiss justice minister Simonette Sommaruga on Tuesday signed an immigration treaty with the Sri Lankan interior minister, Seneviratne Bandara Nawinne, which will include the repatriation of Tamil asylum seekers.
“What we are codifying with this immigration agreement are the formalities on how the repatriations are carried out,” Ms Sommaruga, who is on a three day visit of the island, was quoted by Swiss Info as saying.
She rejected criticism of the move from NGOs who have highlighted the cases of torture and detention of repatriated failed asylum seekers.
“As before, with this immigration treaty every person will be checked – whether they are in need of help, whether they are granted asylum and whether repatriation is possible and reasonable. Nothing has changed there,” she added.
The news site stated over 1600 such asylum seekers, mainly Tamils, now face potential expulsion.