The United Nations voiced alarm today at Australia's decision to "actively and indefinitely separate" the family of a recognised refugee in the country by deporting her husband to Sri Lanka.
The UN refugee agency warned that "the deportation overnight of the father leaves his Sri Lankan partner, who is a recognised refugee, alone with their 11-month-old daughter." UNHCR said that prior to the deportation it had appealed to the Australian government to allow the man to remain with his family, but to no avail.
The move, it warned in a statement, "contravenes the basic right of family unity, as well as the fundamental principle of the best interests of the child."