Deported Tamils taken into police custody

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 March 2000, 20:26 GMT]
Sri Lankan Police took two Jaffna Tamils deported from Germany into custody at Katunayake International Airport. State run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation in its night news bulletin today said that two key Tamil Tigers who had been raising funds for the LTTE in Germany were taken into custody by the CID at Katunayake International Airport.

Both Tamils, Vaitilingam Suthaharan and Subramaniam Theiventhran, permanent residents of Jaffna, were ordered on remand by the Negombo Magistrate until March 28, SLBC reported.

SLBC further reported that according to a German Embassy spokesman, 150 Sri Lankans who had been refused asylum were deported last year. Yesterday, 40 Sri Lankans who had been refused asylum in Germany were to be deported. But half of them disappeared when they came to know that they were to be deported to Sri Lanka.

Germany has deported about 4,500 Sri Lankans who had been refused asylum this year, SLBC reported quoting German Embassy's spokesman.