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AUSTRALIA’S government bowed to legal pressure today, promising the High Court not to transfer several asylum-seekers to Sri Lankan jurisdiction without giving three days' notice.
The pledge followed confirmation by Immigration Minister Scott Morrison that 41 Sri Lankans picked up off the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean in late June were given over to Colombo on Sunday.
Human rights campaigners argue that the refugees could face persecution in their home country.
Lawyers representing some of the Sri Lankan asylum-seekers on the latest intercepted boat went to the High Court to stop the 153 people on board from also being repatriated.
They are currently held on an Australian customs vessel.
High Court Justice Susan Crennan, who issued a temporary injunction late on Monday halting further transfers, adjourned the matter following yesterday’s hearing.
Government lawyer Justin Gleeson confirmed that no asylum-seekers would be transferred without 72 hours’ written notice.
The court hearing marked the first time the government has acknowledged the second boat’s existence.
Mr Morrison, who is due to arrive in Sri Lanka this morning for talks with officials, is yet to comment on where or when that boat was intercepted.
The hearing has no impact on the 41 Sri Lankans already sent back.
Five people out of the 41 aboard the boat were detained by a Sri Lanka court yesterday charged as people smugglers.
Twenty-seven other adults were accused of illegally leaving the country and released on bail, while nine children were discharged.
