A significant number of Sri Lankan Tamils who have been denied asylum in Germany would be deported to Colombo this week, informed sources said.
A special law enforcement unit which was set up to track down Sri Lankans who had been denied asylum in Germany has rounded up a significant number of them from various locations throughout Germany.
According to the sources, some 30 Sri Lankan Tamils who have been detained at the Dusseldorf Airport in Germany are expected to be deported to Colombo early this week.
In addition, another undisclosed number of asylum seekers had also been arrested by the German authorities and are currently being held in various undisclosed locations under heavy security pending deportation, the sources said.
They added that a large number of asylum seekers who had entered Germany through various illegal channels had opted to go on the run after their asylum bid was rejected.
Germany along with several other European countries has said that future asylum seekers from Sri Lanka would not be accommodated since the battle against terrorism has ended in the country.
A manhunt has been launched in several European countries to nab illegal immigrants despite appeals from several human rights organisations to consider their plight on humanitarian grounds, the sources said.