Navy brings ashore 111 Australia-bound illegal migrants

Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Navy yesterday brought ashore 111 Australia-bound illegal migrants who were arrested in the seas off the southern coast. The Navy said it brought all the Australia-bound persons rescued in the deep seas of southern Sri Lanka safely ashore to Galle Harbour. They were to be handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for further investigations.

Sri Lanka Navy’s Offshore Patrol Vessel, SLNS Samudura with the assistance of two fast naval patrol craft attached to the Southern Naval Command intercepted the illegal migrants 220 kilometres south of Galle on Saturday. Among the 111 arrested persons are three Sinhalese and 108 Tamils that included 46 men, 20 women and 45

children. They are residents of Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Vavuniya, Puttalam, Jaffna and Mullaitivu. Despite the Navy’s efforts and Australia’s recent measure of sending the boat people directly to Nauru and Papua New Guinea, would-be asylum seekers continue attempting to migrate to Australia.