Number of asylum seekers to Aussie to reduce dramatically - Kohona

Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations Dr. Palitha Kohona says the number of Tamil refugees trying to reach Australia by boat is likely to fall dramatically following the Australian government’s decision to suspend the processing of new Sri Lankan applications for asylum.

 

 

Palitha Kohona, who is also the former foreign secretary, believes the tougher stance by the Australian government will make a difference.

 

 

‘‘This will have an impact on prospective asylum seekers. They might now head off to somewhere else,’’ he told The Age.

 

 

‘‘I’m reasonably confident that the number of asylum seekers will now be reduced dramatically.’’

 

 

Dr Kohona, who holds Australian and Sri Lankan citizenship and once worked as an Australian diplomat, said the previous policy stance had been a ‘‘pull factor’’ for would-be asylum seekers.

 

 

Last May, a 26-year civil war in Sri Lanka ended when government forces defeated Tamil separatists. The conflict’s bloody conclusion was followed by a sharp rise in the number of Tamils trying to travel to Australia in the hope of asylum.

 

 

Human rights advocates in Sri Lanka say the decision to suspend asylum claims from the country just 10 months after the end of the conflict is premature and does not take account of the complexity of the postwar situation, especially in the war-ravaged north of the country.

 

 

International human rights groups also say some political freedoms in Sri Lankahave deteriorated recently, especially the freedom of expression.

 

 

But Dr Kohona said conditions in the north had ‘‘improved tremendously’’ and many of those trying to get to Australia by boat were not genuine refugees.

^theage