Australia denies 'offensive' accusations Sri Lanka asylum seekers ill-treated

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Australia on Wednesday rejected accusations of mistreatment by Sri Lankan asylum seekers returned to the island nation, saying the move sent a strong message to those thinking of following in their footsteps. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison was speaking in Colombo a day after some of the 37 Sinhalese and four Tamils said they were ill treated by Australian Customs officials at sea. "I find those allegations offensive and reject them absolutely," Morrison told reporters. "Any venture ... that thinks they can get to Australia, well, I think a very clear message is being said, particularly in the last few days: that venture will not prevail." Sri Lanka says many asylum seekers are economic migrants, but rights groups say Tamils seek asylum to prevent torture, rape and other violence at the hands of the military. One of the asylum seekers, N.A. Nilantha, said Australian Customs officials acted "in an inhumane manner" before the transfer to the Sri Lankan navy. "They knelt us down, they dragged us, holding our necks," he told Reuters soon after he was released on bail in the southern port of Galle. "They gave meat for a dog on board while we were given only a slice of bread. When we complained of being sick and having headaches, they said we were pretending. They did not treat us for any of our illnesses." "NOT ALLOWED TO TALK" Another of the returned asylum seekers accused the customs officials of trying to get the group to board another vessel that was already carrying 153 asylum seekers, and of later barring the travelers even from speaking to each other. "In this ship, we were not allowed to talk," said the father of three who traveled with his family, and who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We fought with them and shouted, asking, 'How can we go in a ship with 150 people already?'. We understood they were not taking us anywhere to land. "They gave us expired chocolates. When we asked for a basin for a baby less than two months old, they did not give us one. But they gave a basin to the dog. They bathed the dog with shampoo. They gave the dog a towel and two bedsheets, but we were not given anything." Australia's hardline immigration policies are facing growing international scrutiny. The group of 153 Sri Lankan asylum seekers remains stranded in legal limbo on the high seas as Australia's High Court considers the legality of the interception of their boat. The 41 asylum seekers picked up from a separate boat were handed over by Australia to Sri Lanka in a secret operation over the weekend. Morrison rejected claims that Australia had breached international conventions by handing over the Sri Lankans. "The Australian government takes very seriously our responsibility, as well as the Sri Lankan government people's safety and the various obligations that they have under the various conventions to which we are signatories," he said. Morrison was in Colombo to hand over two patrol boats to Sri Lanka to strengthen surveillance against people smuggling. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott vowed not to bow to "moral blackmail" following reports of suicide bids by female asylum seekers at a detention center on Christmas Island. Opposition Greens lawmaker Sarah Hanson-Young, whose party is one of the strongest critics of the government's "Operation Sovereign Borders" immigration policy, said she had spoken to people inside the center who reported that almost ten mothers were on suicide watch this week. (Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Nick Macfie and Clarence Fernandez)