SYDNEY/COLOMBO (TIP): The United Nations has expressed “profound concern” about Australia‘s handling of asylum seekers amid reports that scores of Sri Lankans will be handed over to their country’s navy after only a brief assessment by Australian authorities. Two boats carrying more than 200 Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka were intercepted by Australian border security forces in the Indian Ocean in recent days and either have been or will be transferred to the Sri Lankan navy, Australian media said. An Australian source with knowledge of the operation said the intention was to carry out the transfer on Friday, but the situation was fluid.

The prospect of a risky mid-ocean transfer of Tamil asylum seekers and their return to Sri Lanka has sparked criticism of Australia’s tough immigration policy. Sri Lanka is facing heavy pressure from rights groups and the West for alleged human rights violations during the final phase of the war against Tamil separatists which ended in 2009. It 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.

Australia’s government has not confirmed any details of the incident and refuses to comment on what it calls operational matters regarding its “Operation Sovereign Borders” programme. The UNHCR said it did not have official confirmation of the incidents but said it had followed “with profound concern recent reports in the media and from the community” about interceptions and assessment of claims for asylum. “International law prescribes that no individual can be returned involuntarily to a country in which he or she has a wellfounded fear of persecution,” UNHCR said in a statement late on Thursday.

Sri Lankan officials have given conflicting accounts about whether their navy has been involved. Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said on Thursday that the navy had agreed to accept the asylum seekers but changed his response after questioning from reporters. “I really don’t know where we stand,” he said.Two other government officials said the navy would receive the boat people from its Australian counterpart. Forcing people seeking refugee protection back to their country of origin without properly investigating their claims is a flagrant breach of the Refugee Convention and international law, the Refugee Council of Australia said.