AUDIO: ‘Refugees’ who wish to come back will be welcomed - Rajiva
May 31, 2011 12:48 pm
There will be no threat on anyone who left the country during the war and wish to come back to Sri Lanka despite some of them leaving as refugees, MP Prof Rajiva Wijesinha stated in an interview with Australia’s ABC Radio network.
Referring to the thousands of Tamils who left to countries such as Australia and Canada during the war as political refugees, he said that many of them were coming to the Sri Lankan embassies in those countries to request for passports to come back to Sri Lanka.
Stating that it was easier for Tamils to gain entry into these countries under the tag of political refugees Prof. Wijesinhasaid that it was surprising that the same people who claimed to be persecuted in Sri Lanka would want to return now that the war is over.
He also added that the government has already addressed the issues of the internally displaced persons of the country and would be grateful to any Sri Lankans living in Australia who would give a little of what they have to their poorer brethren in Sri Lanka.
Speaking about the Australian government’s stand on terrorism and the LTTE, he stated that it was shameful that Australia, unlike any other Western government, had failed to ban the LTTE adding that it was something that Australia should remedy.
When asked about the UN expert panel report on Sri Lanka, he said that the report had ignored letters from the head of the ICRC in Sri Lanka which spoke of the discipline of the Sri Lankan armed forces while adding that the report was fraudulent in the fact that it cites unreliable sources.
Prof. Wijesinha also dispelled allegations that Sri Lanka imposes the Sinhalese language and the Buddhist philosophy on people, explaining that government schools afford the option of English education while leaders such as the former Chief Justice, the Attorney General, the Air Force Commander and previous Army Commanders have been of different faiths.