The migrants were expelled from Reunion from Roland Garros airport
Reunion police officers on Monday escorted the 60 migrants who had received an eviction notice at the island’s airport. These Sri Lankans arrived on April 13 thinking of landing in New Zealand
Half of the 120 Sri Lankan migrants who arrived in Reunion on April 13 were expelled to their country on Monday morning, we learned from the prefecture.
The 60 people, “including three women and three children” , were “escorted” Monday to Sri Lanka “by a special chartered flight from Roland Garros airport (the main airport of Reunion, Editor’s note)” , said the prefecture in a press release.
These migrants had arrived in Reunion on board a fishing boat. They thought they were going to New Zealand and paid between € 2,000 and € 5,000 per person for the crossing.
The boat was also carrying three crew members of Indonesian nationality who were indicted for aiding entry or illegal stay in an organized group. Placed in pre-trial detention, they will be tried on May 15 by the Saint-Denis Criminal Court.
Rejection of their asylum application
Escorted by 62 police and gendarmes, the migrants boarded the plane without offering any resistance.
“Many had serious faces. There was a lot of sadness in the looks, ” said an airport employee.
When they arrived on the island on a boat from Indonesia on April 13, the 120 Sri Lankans, including 9 women and 13 children, had applied for asylum. “Thirty-four of them were admitted to the territory to submit an asylum application in France. Their asylum request will be studied by the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra), ” the prefecture said.
The requests of the 86 others were rejected by Ofpra. The remaining 26 migrants “not admitted to the territory remain in the waiting zone, awaiting the outcome of the procedure concerning them,” said the prefecture.
A few hours later, the court of appeal ordered their exit from the containment zone. Now free to circulate on Reunion Island, they have been supported by associations.
A Sri Lankan industry
Since March 2018, 273 people from Sri Lanka have arrived in Reunion. 130 are still there and are awaiting a decision from Ofpra concerning their asylum application. All the others were sent back to their countries.
Just over 4,000 km separate Reunion Island from Sri Lanka. It “is clearly illegal immigration networks are at work” , said Frederic Joram late December, Secretary General of the Prefecture of La Reunion.
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