14 Sri Lankan asylum seekers sent home

27 Oct 2012, 6:35 pm   -   Source: AAP

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has denied that Sri Lanka pressured the government to return 14 asylum seekers who face charges there.

A man making his second bid for asylum was among 14 asylum seekers sent home after allegedly hijacking a ship off the coast of Sri Lanka, the federal government says.

Speaking in Sydney, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the 14 asylum seekers left Cocos Islands on a plane bound for Sri Lanka at 1pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

He said the group, which also included three children, had all been on the Chejan - a fishing trawler that was allegedly hijacked on October 13 off the Sri Lankan coast.

The boat had been missing until it was intercepted on Thursday north-west of the Cocos Islands by ACV Hervey Bay.

He said the government had decided to remove all but one of the alleged 15 hijackers because they faced "serious charges in Sri Lanka".

"The government took the view that it's appropriate that they face those charges and the removal occur as soon as possible," Mr Bowen told reporters.

"The Australian government took the view that the Sri Lankan government should be able to cooperate and these people should be able to face these charges."

He said the government was not pressured by Sri Lanka to remove the group and did not say why one of the alleged hijackers had not been expelled.

He also denied the government had acted overly secretively on the issue.

"I don't think there's been secrecy, we've been progressing their removal and that entails conversations with other governments and it entails steps being put in place," he said.

The group included one man who had already been removed from Australia after a previously failed asylum bid, Mr Bowen said.

"I'm very clearly now, we are showing that if they return again we have steps available to us which we will implement," he said.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the Chejan should never have reached Australian waters.

"Labor has gambled on our borders by allowing alleged pirates to enter our waters and be given the opportunity to make a protection claim," he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship confirmed on Saturday that seven more Sri Lankan men had returned home voluntarily from Christmas Island.

They departed Perth on Friday on a commercial flight for Colombo.

Mr Bowen said he expected even more people return home in the future as the government's policy of offshore processing takes effect.

People who opt to depart voluntarily can receive individual reintegration support to assist with their return through the International Organisation for Migration.

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