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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 7176271" data-attributes="member: 92282">A SRI Lankan student has disappeared without a trace  after he was deported for overstaying his visa.             The Immigration Department has refused to help find  Randika Mallawaarachchi, who was deported almost two months ago.             Department officers put Mr Mallawaarachchi on a Sri  Lankan-bound plane at Adelaide airport some time between February 15 and  19.             The Sri Lankan government says he never set foot on his  home soil, Mr Mallawaarachchi's lawyer, Chanaka Bandarage, said.             His elderly parents, who live in Sri Lanka, are  distressed by his disappearance and Mr Bandarage said requests for  information from the Immigration Department had fallen on deaf ears.             ''The department must have some responsibility for a  person to reach their intended destination. They can't just put them on a  plane then wash their hands,'' Mr Bandarage said.             Immigration officials said they have been following the  24-year-old's wishes not to reveal details of his deportation.             A department spokesman said Mr Mallawaarachchi, who was  studying mechanical engineering at Adelaide University, asked officers  to tell his family only that he had been deported and not to reveal any  other details.             The spokesman said the department could not even disclose  the airline or the flight that Mr Mallawaarachchi boarded.             Mr Bandarage said there were no direct flights from  Adelaide to Sri Lanka. He said Malaysian Airlines and Singapore Airlines  ran flights with stopovers.             ''We don't know what has happened to him. He hasn't  contacted his family, they [the Immigration Department] won't even say  which flight he was on.             ''At the Foreign Ministry in Colombo his parents have  been crying daily wanting to know what has happened to this child. He is  not a Tamil, this is not a refugee case.''             Mr Bandarage said his client had almost finished his  degree. He was detained on February 11 after department officials learnt  he had overstayed his visa by two months.             He left all his belongings at the Adelaide share house in  which he was living and Mr Bandarage believed he was travelling without  any money.             A spokesman said the Immigration Department had fulfilled  all its responsibilities. ''DIAC [Department of Immigration and  Citizenship] does not have a role in missing persons matters,'' he said.             ''DIAC exercised appropriate duty of care in his  departure arrangements from Australia. If he were to contact DIAC, we  would continue to encourage him to contact his family. However, it is up  to the individual whether he chooses to do so.''             Mr Bandarage said he could not contact international law  enforcement agencies before knowing where Mr Mallawaarachchi was.theage.com.au</blockquote>

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