Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the accuracy of reports that Tamils deported to Sri Lanka have been subjected to torture and sexual abuse.

This Government fully complies with all of its international obligations under the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the European Convention on Human Rights. The Home Office assesses each asylum and human rights claim case carefully on its individual merits, taking full account of the latest available country information, case law and UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the Internal Protection Needs of Asylum Seekers. Individuals who face a risk of ill treatment, including torture, on return to Sri Lanka will be granted international protection, and would not be returned. The British Government is aware of cases of torture happens in Sri Lanka and we regularly raise it with the Sri Lankan authorities.