Sri Lanka - Australia relations sailing ahead: Australia broke ranks with 'world bullies' to assist Sri Lanka

By Manjula Fernando
SundayObserver.lk
July 13, 2014

The Sri Lanka's high Commissioner in Australia Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe in an interview with the Sunday Observer said Sri Lanka is unrelentingly attacked by so- called refugee advocates for the four per cent of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka when there was 60-80 per cent refugees arriving in Australia from elsewhere.

At the commissioning of the the two hi-tech patrol boats:The commissioning ceremony was held last week at the Colombo Port. The Immigration Minister Scott Morrison flew in for the ceremony graced by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa

High Commissioner in Australia Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe

"But no media, or refugee advocates criticise those countries like the way they attack Sri Lanka. You can see the disproportionate interest whipped up by the anti- Sri Lanka groups."

Admiral Samarasinghe said Sri Lanka's close relations with Australia go beyond its partnership in curbing illegal immigration, adding that the government appreciated their decision to break ranks with the West to openly condemn unfair internationalization of the challenges faced by Sri Lanka.

Excerpts of the interview,

Q: Australia and Sri Lanka seem to have entered into a new level of bi-lateral cooperation with Australia defiantly taking a position to challenge the West's opinion that Sri Lanka had conditions so worse that people wanted to flee. Your comments?

A:With the end of the conflict, Sri Lanka had a gigantic task of telling the rest of the world, how brutal and how atrocious was the terrorism that existed in Sri Lanka. Although terrorism was there for 30 years, the West in particular turned a blind eye to what was happening. Sri Lanka kept on saying this and now this is being openly acknowledged by the present Australian Government, just as the former Government did.
During the days of terrorism, President's were targeted and assassinated, Cabinet ministers and Tamil politicians were killed, places of worship and economic nerve centres were destroyed.

As for the rest of the world, it did not merit their attention. People never expected that Sri Lanka will eliminate terrorism once and for all from Sri Lanka. The western world thought separatism will succeed and were preparing for such a situation. But with the courageous lead of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the armed forces, civilian administration collectively defeated terrorism. This is the message conveyed to Australia in very strong terms and with factual evidence.

Facts covering each area of conflict was put together and made available. This coincided with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November 2011 in Canberra. Minister Prof.G.L.Peiris termed the seven days stay of President's Rajapaksa in Canberra as one of the best diplomatic triumphs for Sri Lanka.

With that the Sri Lanka High Commission had a platform to launch and educate the Australian Federal Parliamentarians. There was extensive engagement to answer their every question.

The media which never allowed Sri Lankan high commission officials to come on TV, shifted their stance. These avenues were explored and this engagement from both sides, I would say the turning point to bring the relations to such a high level.

Q: The present Foreign Minister and the Immigration minister also toured Sri Lanka while they were in the Opposition ?

A:Yes, the Sri Lankan High Commission facilitated a visit to Sri Lanka of Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and the current Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, when they were opposition members. They were permitted to travel to any part of the country with no hindrance. A program was held in Colombo with the Government and another with the Opposition in Jaffna. They spent three days in Kilinochchi and Jaffna. All allegations of war crimes and abductions, persecution and systematic rape, were raised and answered. Minister Julie Bishop is a lawyer.

They had an opportunity to verify these allegations.When they came back they made it public that there need not be any refugees from Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka is stable, peaceful and the opportunities are enormous for right thinking, peaceful and disciplined citizens to start a life.This, I would consider as another turning point. The government changed in September last year and the same bipartisan approach to Sri Lanka continued.

Q: Former Foreign Minister Bob Carr was quoted in the Media dismissing reports that Sri Lanka abused returnees. He had said that his government did not find a single such case. Why is it that the media and refugee advocates are not willing to accept this fact?

A:That is the most disturbing aspect and it a disgrace to those organisations. Basically negative stories are given prominence - it's a bad, wrong and unfair story. These stories are spread by groups with vested interest. They are pawns of so- called human rights groups, groups indulging in human smuggling and those with the connivance of LTTE fronts.

Senator Carr, visited Sri Lanka in 2012, when they were faced with the issue of returning Sri Lankan asylum seekers. The embassy staff was allowed to travel and make inquiries. They found no concrete evidence to prove that people faced harassment.

But that was not enough to silence the so- called human rights activists and some of the media.
A Greens Party Senator came up on television saying white vans were abducting people and there was systematic rape. I challenged this person by asking the meaning of systematic rape. The reply was out of context.

She tried to quote a Sri Lankan Minister whom she said was in Australia at the time. The Minister, in fact, was not in the delegation that was visiting Australia.

She had been pumped wrong information by so- called Sri Lankan activists who are actually speaking on behalf of separatist fronts. They travel to Australia with funds coming from elusive sources to discredit the country.

There are various such bankrupt Sri Lankan groups operating in Australia. This is a serious challenge. The Sri Lankan High Commission together with the consulates in Sydney and Melbourne, and the pro Sri Lanka diaspora have been trying to counter their nonsensical claims. We have made it clear that none of the returnees will ever be subject to torture or harassment.

The bad stories will succumb in the presence of true facts. Sri Lanka has already shown that, Australian government has got over these cooked up stories.

They have been sensible and honest. Australia has broken rank from the West, not getting on board to criticise Sri Lanka. We must appreciate that stance.

Q: The latest trend seem to be refugees in India turning up at Australian shores claiming asylum status. The recent asylum boat has left Pondicherry and was reportedly carrying Lankans living in a refugee camp in India. They are neither being forced to return to Sri Lanka, nor are they being persecuted in India. Can these people be processed under the UN refugee convention?

A:They will not be considered under the UN refugee convention unless there is stark evidence of the reasons they claim. Whenever people are found attempting illegal means of entry to Australia, they are given less priority. There are genuine claimants in neighboring states, waiting to be evaluated under the Refugee Convention and come to Australia.

I will not comment on this particular asylum boat, because it is now a matter before the Australian High Court. They will tackle the new situation purely on merit, considering where the boat was detected, where they were rescued, the country of origin, and if the international UN systems are available for these people to go back to their places of origin.I must emphasise that currently there is no communication between Sri Lanka and Australia on this particular incident.

Q: It is alleged that family members of the boat people who are already living in Australia fund these illegal voyages. Can't the Australian government put a cork on such funding channels?

A:They are doing their best. From whatever the information that we have shared and they have gathered independently, Australian authorities are quite aware of an organised network. This ring is very active in abstracting false refugees. I will give one example, I am quoting the media, according to the reports the so called desperate refugees supposed to be fleeing atrocities are equipped with satellite communication, satellite roaming facilities, telephone numbers of refugee advocates, they have the confidence to contact them. We could see from that itself how well organised this racket is. Two years ago when I said these human smuggling boats coming are funded from the receiving end, I was criticised. Today I have been proved right. The Australian authorities are very much aware of it.

The influx of Sri Lankans to Australia got to the highest point with eight percent in 2012, since then it has come down to 4 per cent last year and to nothing from December last year to June this year.

But there is a 60 - 80 per cent of refugees coming from other parts of the world. But no media, or refugee advocates criticise those countries like the way they attack Sri Lanka. You can see the disproportionate interest of the organisations. This is in my opinion, are stories whipped up by groups with vested interests.
Unfortunately, one of the asylum seekers committed suicide recently, claiming that he will be tortured if returned, this incident is being exploited by the media, to bash Sri Lanka.

They are quite aware that this is a big racket and with the latest policy of Prime Minister Tony Abbot's Liberal Government, Australia has vouched to stop the arrival of illegal boats. The asylum seekers arriving now will be located in off shore processing centres in PNG and Nauru, and even the successful asylum claimants too will not be settled in Australia under their strict revised laws. Such laws have been brought in to deter Australia bound illegal sea traffic.

Q: How do you describe the claim that there are push factors in Sri Lanka to make these economic migrants to flee the country?

A:They have long realised the conditions in Australia were pull factors for illegal migrants than the push factors in the countries of origin. The push factors existed in Sri Lanka during the conflict. The LTTE was forcibly recruiting youth for fighting and forcing them to commit suicide.

The other push factor was that your life was at risk due to bomb explosions happening in the South as well as the North. With the dawn of peace these push factors have been eliminated and now only a pull factor is there.

Q: You said since December 2013 there has been no boat arrivals in Australia. What could have caused it to resume last month? The campaign to mislead people has again resumed. There are various organisations in Australia and Sri Lanka who try to convince potential victims that if you go there and in their custody, there is a good chance of settling down in Australia.

A:When questioned, failed asylum seekers who were stopped within Sri Lanka before taking off, confessed to this intention. To get qualified to stay in Australia they need to come up with a nasty story about Sri Lanka. Immigration officers had little knowledge of Sri Lanka in the past. To address this the Sri Lankan High Commission issued awareness material for immigration officers on Sri Lanka's current situation, after 2009.
The boats leaving Sri Lanka, create a negative image for the country and this is exactly what the anti Sri Lanka diaspora wants. Driven by an objective to discredit Sri Lanka, they need to maintain the flow of Lankan refugees to Australia or elsewhere.

These voyages are not funded by the asylum seekers themselves. If you are arranged a paid journey to the first world for a better standard of life, people will succumb to that. In my opinion these are the factors for the persistent flow of boats.

Q: Will it be possible to stop the flow of boat people who risk not only their life but the lives of innocent children ?

A: This will definitely come to an end provided both countries continue to show their commitment to end the flow of illegal sea migration.

I must emphasise that all this is done primarily to stop people dying at sea. Since 2009, nearly 1200 people from different countries have perished at sea trying to reach Australia on a boat, due to the work of money hungry human smugglers. It was a great achievement that there has been no deaths for the past one year.
The second achievement will be to dismantle the human smuggling network. Criminals who flourish by this unscrupulous trade. The earning capacity of smugglers are fast diminishing now, this is so much so that they are offering even free passage in some instances.

The third intention is to keep our borders intact, to stop boats from leaving or turning up illegally at our shores.

Australian and Sri Lanka set up a Joint Working Group on Human Smuggling and Transnational Crime. The Sri Lankan side of the group is led by Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Australian side is led by Secretary to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Martin Bowels. The first meeting of the working group was held in Colombo in December 2012.

The second meeting was held in Canberra in April this year. A 14 member delegation led by Secretary Defence and representing the Ministries of Justice and Law and Order, and the Police Department, the Coast Guard, Immigration Department, the External Affairs Ministry and the Attorney general's department took part in the meeting, also attended by their Australian counterparts. It was inaugurated by Immigration Minister Scott Morrison.

This mechanism will immensely help curb the menace of human smuggling within the region. Admiral Samarasinghe was in Sri Lanka last week to attend the commissioning of the two Patrol crafts donated by Australia to the Sri Lanka Navy. Prime Minister Tony Abbot's government took a decision to provide the two hi-tech boats with absolutely no cost to Sri Lanka. Admiral Samarasinghe said the gift was a tribute to the Sri Lanka Navy for their contribution in stopping boats with illegal asylum seekers leaving Sri Lanka.
The commissioning ceremony was held last week at the Colombo Port. The Immigration Minister Scott Morrison flew in for the ceremony graced by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.