News
Navy rescues 51 Lankans from mid-sea grave
The Navy was yesterday hunting for a group of human traffickers who intentionally set adrift 51 Australia-bound illegal migrants on a crippled boat in the high seas and fled the area in another vessel.
The illegal migrants who included women and children were left stranded some 300 nautical miles off the eastern coast and were drifting for the past seven days on limited food rations and drinking water, Navy Spokesperson Kosala Warnakulasuriya said.
He said the stranded group was rescued by the Navy on Thursday and would be brought to the Galle Harbour today.
Initial investigations have revealed that the crew of the boat had called for a backup vessel and left in it promising the people that they would send another craft to take them to the Australian Coast, he said.
The crew decided to desert the passengers after several attempts to repair the engine proved futile. In panic they called for a backup boat and got away towards the Australian coast, Comdr. Warnakulasuriya said.
“These traffickers were well aware of the danger faced by the asylum seekers when they made the decision to flee. The people were left to die in a watery grave,” he said.The latest tragedy on the high seas came as Australia announced on Friday that it would stop the refugee influx into the country by switching to off-shore processing of asylum seekers. This started with the transfer of 31 Sri Lankans to the Pacific island of Nauru.
“Under the new off-shore processing policy anyone coming to Australia by boat will be transferred to Nauru. There are no blanket exemptions to this policy and it applies to all asylum seekers,” the Australian High Commission Office in Colombo said in a statement.
It said: “The message for people smugglers and asylum seekers in the region is clear. If you arrive in Australia by boat you will be placed on a plane and processed in another country.”
However Sri Lanka said yesterday the new move by Australia was insufficient and would not deter illegal migrants from trying to reach that country by boat.
“What Australia needs to do is simply send the asylum seekers back to their country of origin as a final solution to the simmering issue. Just processing them in a third country will not help the cause,” External Affairs Ministry (EAM) Secretary Karunatilleke Amunugama said.
He said Sri Lanka wanted Australian to deport all Sri Lankan asylum seekers shortly after they land in that country as the was the only way to end the business of people smuggling.
Follow @timesonlinelk
Related Posts:
SL Navy and French oil tanker crew rescue Lankan asylum seekersThe Sri Lanka Navy along with the assistance of the crew of a French oil tanker rescued a group of ...
Offshore detention centres will not deter asylum-seekers, says Navy spokesmanThe Sri Lanka Navy says the Australian government’s proposal to set up offshore detention centres for refugees arriving by boat ...
Illicit passage to Australia isn’t plain sailingTwo boats packed with medicine, dry rations, food and water were set to sail off to Mankerni, a coastal village ...
More illegal migrants reach Australia despite curbsDespite government’s efforts to curb illegal migration, 32 more Sri Lankans arrived in the Australian territory of Christmas Island yesterday ...
Navy hikes surveillance as illicit migrants find new departure pointsAs the Navy stepped up its surveillance of the eastern and northwestern coast to detect illegal migrants heading to Australia, ...