HRCSL issues a Report on the Status of Rohingya Asylum Seekers Detained in Mullaitivu, and Related Issues
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) issued a Report on the Status of Rohingya Asylum Seekers Detained in Mullaitivu, and Related Issues. On 19 December 2024, a multi-day trawler carrying 116 persons, including 57 children, from the Rohingya community in Myanmar drifted towards the coast off Mullivaikkal in Mullaitivu. Local fishermen provided humanitarian assistance including water and food, and the Sri Lanka Navy escorted the boat to Trincomalee. Several persons had in fact perished during the journey. Later, the survivors were brought before the Trincomalee Magistrate and eventually detained at the Mullaitivu Air Force Camp.
The HRCSL is empowered under section 11(d) of the HRCSL Act, No. 21 of 1996 to ‘monitor the welfare of persons detained either by a judicial order or otherwise, by regular inspection of their places of detention, and to make such recommendations as may be necessary for improving their conditions of detention.’ Moreover, the HRCSL is designated as the National Preventive Mechanism on torture in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, the HRCSL visited the Mullaitivu Air Force Camp on 9 January 2025 to assess the conditions of detention of the asylum seekers and make appropriate recommendations.
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HRCSL Report on Rohingya Asylum Seekers_January 2025