CID summons activist following protest against deportation of Rohingya asylum seekers

The 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, the Tamil Guardian reported yesterday (13).

A police officer from the CID office in Konthapity, Mannar, went to Figurado’s office, where he was asked to report to the CID’s Human Trafficking and Maritime Crime Division and make 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 held a protest in Mullaitivu alongside local women’s community-based organisations, human rights defenders, fisher societies, and journalists, calling on the government not to deport Rohingya asylum seekers who landed here in a boad while fleeing persecution in Myanmar.

The refugees including 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 deporting the Rohingyas.