‘Lenient asylum’ pulls Sri Lankans - Report
April 27, 2010 10:05 pm
Prabath Aluthge, chief of
But as authorities intercepted another boat carrying 41
asylum-seekers near Ashmore Reef on Monday, Mr. Aluthge said a crackdown by the
Sri Lankan authorities and the toughening of
And Malaysian authorities announced they had stopped an
Australia-bound boat carrying 75 Sri Lankans from leaving
In an exclusive interview, Mr. Aluthge said he expected the changes in procedure, which include the suspension of processing of all new Sri Lankan asylum claims for three months, would have a deterrent effect, as would the deportation of people whose claims had been unsuccessful, a move foreshadowed by the Rudd government.
Mr Aluthge said neither Tamil nor Sinhalese Sri Lankans had
any grounds for claiming asylum in
Since 2009, almost 1000 Sri Lankans, mostly minority Tamils,
have arrived in
All told, they comprised about 20 per cent of the total number of boatpeople to arrive as part of the present surge.
“The successful people informed their friends about
However, Mr Aluthge said there had been a decline in boats
leaving
“We have an awareness campaign. There are police very alert. We have established a coast guard department,” he said.
“And . . . now the war is over, the entire navy can work with the coast guard.”
Most smuggling rings in
But the market is mostly Tamils in the northern part of the country.
Mr Aluthge said the organisers paid agents across the country to recruit passengers, sometimes even guaranteeing their debt for the journey, which could run from $5000 to $10,000.
“They sometimes mortgage their properties, sometimes they get bank guarantees,” he said. - (From Paul Maley for The Australian)