Friday November 2nd was a day of excitement in Sri Lanka as details of a successful air strike in the North by the Sri Lankan air force became known. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (
LTTE) political commissar, ?Brigadier? Suppiah Paramu
Thamilchelvan along with five others had been killed at Thiruvaiaru, a Kilinochchi suburb.
On the same day in the United Kingdom an unpublicised drama was being enacted. A team of 20 - 25 British officials swooped on an apartment building in the South Kensington area of London.The group comprised officials from British intelligence, Home office,Border and Immigration Agency and the Metropolitan Police.
Some stayed outside the building while others stayed close to exits in readiness to block anyone fleeing if necessary.
The officials who rang the doorbell of the rented flat ,found five people - two adults and three children - of Sri Lankan origin inside the two - roomed residence.
The officials had among other documents ,a warrant issued against 41 year old Vinayagamoorthy
Muralitharan alias ?Colonel? Karuna a.k.a Karuna Amman.
The officials had photographs of Muralitharan alias ?Col? Karuna. The man in the flat fitted the description in the photographs. He was asked politely for some identification.
He handed over a Sri Lankan diplomatic passport issued in the name of Kokila Gunawardena. The British High Commission in Colombo had issued an entry visa to Kokila Gunawardena.
It was blatantly obvious that the man possessing a passport in the name of Kokila Gunawardena was the man known as ?Col? Karuna. . While some officials interviewed ?Gunawardena? in the drawing room , others executed a search warrant issued against the premises.
There was very little to to be seized. No firearm or weapon of any sort was found on the premises. The man too did not possess any firearm or weapon.
The identities of the woman and three children were checked. The woman was Vidyavathy Muralitharan the three children were Dharanya, Kalairathi and Darfan. They were applicants for refugee status in Britain and had been granted temporary admission officially.
The officials then informed the man that they had doubts about the travel document used by him to enter Britain. They requested him to accompany them for further investigation.
The man with the Sri Lankan diplomatic passport asked the officials to cross check with the Sri Lankan High Commission in London about the travel document`s authenticity.
The officials said they would do so in due course but reiterated that he would have to accompany them pending further investigation. The man then dressed up and went along with the officials.
He was not handcuffed or bodily grasped but walked like a ?free? man.He was taken first to an immigration office.
After further interrogation for some hours, the officials informed the man that he had entered Britain. Although his passport was authentic and the visa issued was genuine he was guilty of impersonation because the name in the travel document was not his real name. This was fraudulent.
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias ?Colonel? Karuna a,k.a. Karuna Amman was then officially informed that he was not eligible for admission to Britain and that he would be deported back to his Country of origin , Sri Lanka. He would be detained incommunicado till then.
In recent times Britain has acquired a dubious reputation for adopting ruthless methods in handling immigration issues. One such practice was to ?arrest? illegals requiring deportation on Fridays. The ? targets? are informed officially that they would be deported after regular office hours on Fridays.
They would then be expeditiously put on planes and sent away during week - ends. The would be deportees would have little chance of access to legal representation or recourse to legal means on week - ends.
By the time friends and relatives come to know about the predicament of the person concerned, the deportation would have been a ?fait accompli?.
But the bearer of the diplomatic passport issued in the name of Kokila Gunawardena seemed to have anticipated such an eventuality. He was also aware of his basic rights.
?Kokila Gunawardena ?then informed the British immigration officials that he was seeking political asylum in Britain. He then admitted that he was Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan and not Kokila Gunawardena.
He was a former member of the LTTE who had broken away from the tigers and had formed an organization called the Tamil Makkal Viduthalaip Puligal (
TMVP) or Tamil People Liberation Tigers.
The LTTE was trying to kill him and so he had fled Sri Lanka using a passport under a different name for security reasons. ?Col?Karuna feared that he would be killed if he returned or was compelled to return to Sri Lanka.
Therefore he wanted Britain to grant him convention refugee status.The request for political asylum from within the Country by Karuna Amman changed the situation drastically.
Usually people make refugee claims at the port of entry. Most Western Countries have computerised lists of people they consider as inadmissible. Persons whose names are on such ?black lists? are denied entry notwithstanding their refugee claims.
There are also people who manage to gain entry into the ?host? Country first and then make a refugee claim. They are called ?In status? or ?in country? claimants. If black listed people manage to enter and then claim refugee status, such persons are usually kept in detention till their cases are disposed of.
Since Karuna had entered Britain first and then made his claim he was considered an ?In Country/status? claimant. He would not be deported till due processing of his claim was done. But there was a hitch. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias ?Col? Karuna a. k. a. Karuna Amman was on a British blacklist.
Karuna apparently had applied under his own name for a visa to enter Britain some time ago. This was denied. Thereafter he was put on the black list. But now he had entered Britain under a false name and sought refugee status. This meant that he had to be detained until further notice.
But other circumstances also warranted Karuna`s detention by British authorities.There was provision under new Immigration laws for persons to be detained without access to
lawyers until the initial interview was conducted and proper claim made. Usually this period was from three days to a week.
Apart from this provision Karuna`s politico - military background made his case unique. On the one hand he had used a diplomatic passport issued by Sri Lanka officially. On the other hand he was claiming refugee status.
This required further probing.The Sri Lankan High Commission in London as well as the British High Commission in Colombo were informed of the incident.
There were also many reports and allegations against Karuna about alleged violations of human rights, war crimes and crimes against humanity. As the former Batticaloa - Amparai district commander of the LTTE and as leader of the TMVP there arose the question of ?command responsibilty?.These matters also required further clarification.
Finally there was the question of his personal safety and a possible breach of peace on British soil. The LTTE was out to get Karuna. It was now public knowledge that he was in Britain. Releasing him could make him vulnerable to a tiger - inspired attack. The Brits did not want anything of that sort to happen on British soil.
For all these reasons the British authorities decided to keep Karuna in prolonged detention. He was shuttled between two Immigration detention facilities in Cambridgeshire and Lancashire.
Special security arrangements were made within the detention facilities. Though kept incommunicado, Karuna was allowed limited telephone access to his wife and children.
Muralitharan`s wife Vidyavathy and three children had come to Britain many moons ago. Like most asylum seekers they had used false travel documents to reach Britain and then sought refugee status under their own names.
Vidyavathy who is also called Neera had frankly disclosed who she was and who her spouse was. The family was under grave threat and faced great danger from the LTTE and hence their flight to safety.
British officials had accepted their claim as ?credible? and granted temporary admission after the first hearing. Their claims will be processed further before being granted refugee status if found eligible.
As such the family faces no immigration problems at present. The family opted to keep a low profile and avoid areas where Tamils are concentrated for obvious reasons.
The children , two girls and a boy are now enrolled in school. Their studies had been interrupted as a result of political upheavals affecting their father.
The innocent kids for no fault of their own had been deprived of schooling for quite a few years as the family moved from place to place remaining incognito.
It was concern for the welfare of their children that made Vidyavathy relocate to London.
According to informed Tamil sources close to Karuna the TMVP leader had had no intention of residing abroad permanently when he travelled to Britain. His journey abroad had two purposes.
Fundamentally it was to see his wife and children and make further arrangements for their comfortable stay in Britain.The other purpose was to contact by telephone , supporters and well - wishers living abroad and discuss plans of forming a new political party.
Originally Karuna had intended staying for only a month in Britain. But subsequently family members had got him to stay further. He had arrived in London in September and earlier intended going back in the third week of October.
Later he had decided to postpone his departure for another month. Had he acted according to his original plans , Karuna may not have suffered the controversy of arrest and dicomfiture of detention.
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