The Sri Lanka Monitor states that a "Sri Lankan Tamil asylum-seeker ..., deported from Paris in mid-January, was produced in Negombo Magistrates Court while police made further enquiries into his background. Bail was set at Rs105,000" (Jan. 1993, 2).

According to the attached Inter Press Service report, in January 1994 the governments of Sri Lanka and Switzerland signed a bilateral agreement for the repatriation of Sri Lankan refugees in Switzerland (6 July 1994). Four refugees, some of whom were Tamils, were repatriated to Sri Lanka in mid-June 1994 (ibid.). Sources available to the DIRB do not provide information on the treatment of these asylum-seekers after their return to Sri Lanka. A Sri Lanka Monitor article reports that the above-mentioned repatriation programme was condemned by NGOs (June 1994, 4).

The attachment from International Intelligence Report refers to negotiations between the governments of Sri Lanka and the Netherlands on the repatriation of Tamil refugees from the Netherlands to Sri Lanka (4 June 1994).

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

International Intelligence Report. 4 June 1994. "Sri Lanka Refuses Return of Tamil Refugees. (NEXIS)

Inter Press Service. 6 July 1994. Rita Sebastian. "Sri Lanka-Switzerland: Refugees Return to Homes in War Zone." (NEXIS)

The Sri Lanka Monitor [London]. June 1994. "NGOs Condemn Swiss Deportation Programme."

. January 1993. "Forcible Return."

International Intelligence Reports. 4 June 1994. "Sri Lanka Refuses Return of Tamil Refugees. (NEXIS)

Inter Press Service. 6 July 1994. Rita Sebastian. "Sri Lanka-Switzerland: Refugees Return to Homes in War Zone." (NEXIS)

The Sri Lanka Monitor [London]. June 1994. "NGOs Condemn Swiss Deportation Programme."

. January 1993. "Forcible Return."