Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has summoned Jesumaney Yartan Figurado, the joint co-ordinator of the North-East Coordinating Committee (NECC) over his participation in a recent protest opposing the deportation of Rohingya asylum seekers.
A Sri Lankan police officer from the CID office in Konthapity, Mannar, went to Figurado's office where he told him that the CID's Human Trafficking and Maritime Crime Division was summoning him to Colombo to record a statement over his involvement in the protest on January 9.
Figurado is expected to go to the CID office in Colombo on January 17, 2025.
Last week, the NECC had held a protest in Mullaitivu alongside local women’s community-based organisations, human rights defenders, fisher societies, and journalists, to call on the Sri Lankan government to not deport a group of Rohingya asylum seekers who were fleeing persecution in Myanmar.
The refugees, who include 25 children, were rescued from a distressed boat by local fishermen in the Mullaitivu district, who provided assistance to the stranded individuals and informed the Sri Lankan Navy.
On January 3, Ananda Wijepala, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Public Security, announced that the government was in discussions with Myanmar and they were exploring the possibility of deportation pending legal processes.