Navy arrests 80 illegal asylum seekers

Colombo Gazette: The Navy arrested 80 people off Point Pedro as they were heading to Australia by boat, Navy spokesman Kosala Warnakulasuriya said. He said that the illegal asylum seekers, all Tamils, were spotted by navy boats North of Point Pedro and were brought to the KKS harbour in Jaffna yesterday.

Among those on the boat were 38 men, 18 women and 24 children, the navy spokesman said. The police arrested 44 people on 18 April, who were preparing to head to Australia from Aluthgama by boat. The 44 people were arrested after three vans transporting them to a location were checked on suspicion in Kaluwanmodara.

Among those found in the van were five women and four children, the police official said. Those arrested were residents of Killinochchi, Vavuniya and Vakarai. Also last week the Sri Lanka Navy intercepted a boat with 61 people illegally bound for Australia.

The multi-day trawler named ‘Madushan II’ was intercepted by a Sri Lanka Navy’s Fast Naval Patrol Craft attached to the Eastern Naval Command off Batticaloa. Among the arrested persons were 60 Tamils and one Sinhalese that included 43 men, eight women and 10 children.

They were brought to the Trincomalee harbour to be handed over to the harbour Police for further investigations. The Australian Government had last week said it returned more than 1,000 Sri Lankan irregular maritime arrivals.

Since 13 August last year, 1,004 Sri Lankans who arrived as irregular maritime arrivals have departed Australia, 795 of them involuntarily. “Returning this group to Sri Lanka sends the powerful message that people who pay smugglers are throwing their money away and risking their lives in the process,” Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Brendan O’Connor said.

“There is no fast track to Australia, irrespective of whether someone arrives at an excised offshore place; if they do not engage Australia’s protection obligations, they will be returned home. Where it is determined that claims do not engage Australia’s international obligations, the person will be removed from Australia at the earliest opportunity,” O’Connor said. People returned involuntarily do not have access to reintegration assistance.