SINGAPORE: An 81-year-old Australian human rights activist has accused Singapore authorities of holding him in a cell without food, drink and toilet facilities for nearly five hours before deporting him.
Brian Senewiratne, a long-time critic of Colombo over its treatment of Tamils, told AFP Tuesday he flew to Singapore on December 14 en route to Malaysia to give talks on the plight of refugees from Sri Lanka, his country of birth.
In terms of distance, Singapore is nearer to the Malaysian town of Johor Bahru where he was to give his first lecture than the closest airport in Malaysia which is in Kuala Lumpur.
Senewiratne said when he reached immigration, he was led to a “10 foot by 10 foot” room where he waited for four and a half hours without basic facilities before being placed on a return flight to Brisbane.
“They (immigration officers) didn’t let me use my mobile phone. Then I said let me at least get the number of the people who are waiting for me in Singapore. They said no you can’t switch on your computer,” Senewiratne said.
“So I had no computer, no passport and no mobile phone,” the doctor added.
Senewiratne said an officer had told him before he was led under police escort to the plane, “You came from Brisbane and to Brisbane you will go, you are being deported under armed guard.”
A document issued to Senewiratne by Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and seen by AFP stated that he was “refused entry into Singapore for... being ineligible for issue of a pass under current immigration policies.”
