Recommendation 4: Governments ensure full OPCAT compliance no later than the 20 January 2023 extended deadline by designating NPMs, and ensuring the mandates and resourcing of NPMs is sufficient to allow them to effectively fulfil their OPCAT functions. Recommendation 5: Governments adopt an inclusive approach to the interpretation of ‘places of detention’, ensuring that both ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ places of detention are included within the scope of all NPMs. Recommendation 6: Governments give particular attention to ensuring NPMs are designed and operate in a way that reflects the particular needs, and is inclusive of, vulnerable cohorts who are disproportionately represented in places of detention, including (but not limited to) First Nations people, children and young people, and people with disability. 4 Immigration detention and asylum seekers 4.1 Non-refoulement 37. The Commission notes the continuation of Operation Sovereign Borders, a military-led border security operation which aims to counter people smuggling, including through preventing the entry to Australia of boats carrying asylum seekers. As part of Operation Sovereign Borders, boats have been intercepted and returned to their point of departure ‘where it is safe to do so’. To date in 2022 there have been 183 people who have been returned to Sri Lanka after being detected and intercepted attempting to reach Australia on maritime people smuggling ventures.40 38. The Commission remains concerned that the screening process conducted as part of Operation Sovereign Borders activities does not constitute a fair or thorough assessment of protection claims. The screening process creates a risk that asylum seekers who have legitimate needs for protection may be returned to situations where they could be in danger of being tortured or subjected to other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. 39. The Commission is also concerned about possible refoulement, arbitrary, prolonged and/or indefinite detention and separation from family resulting from decisions to cancel visas of non-citizens under sections 501 and 116 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (Migration Act).41 40. While the Minister has a personal power under s 159A of the Migration Act to grant a visa if they consider it is in the public interest to do so, the Commission considers this to be an insufficient safeguard against indefinite detention for someone to whom Australia owes non-refoulement obligations, 10