Surrounded by the endless ocean on one side and mountains of sand on the other, 15 young Lankans scanned the vast expanse of no man’s land. All that confronted them were multitudes of kangaroos, ostrich and desert cactus. Hours turned into days as the group wandered in the Western Australian wilderness. A ray of hope dawned on the third day when they saw tyre marks in the sand. Hopes rising, they trekked ahead in the torrid heat. After covering hundreds of miles, the men were elated at the sight of two safari jeeps packed with Australian holiday makers.
This is in brief what 15 Sri Lankan men underwent in their search for greener pastures. Their destination was Perth, Australia. But for these would-be refugees, their adventure was in vain as they were deported by the Australian authorities last week. Back home, they were detained by the police in their hometown Negombo for questioning over suspected terrorist links, as they had posed as victims of the ethnic conflict in their bid to gain refugee status in Australia. They were subsequently released on bail last week.
Their journey began in Negombo where following instructions the men gathered at a lagoon boatyard precisely at 12 midnight on June 9, to board the trawler that would take them on the 2200 mile sea journey to Australia. These men from the fishing villages of Wennappuwa and Marawila did not forget to ask for God’s blessings as they ventured on a journey that in their hearts they knew was a voyage between life and death.
Christopher
Gamini Fernando (29) who led the group recounted their harrowing experience. It
was a week before the scheduled journey that Gamini came to know of the
opportunity to go to Australia. The toughest task for him was to collect the
massive sum of rupees three and a half lakhs, the fee for the ‘tour’.
The down payment was 75,000 rupees (this varied with regard to the other
members) paid to the owner of the boat. The balance was deposited with a
lawyer under the condition that it would be paid once they were granted refugee
status in Australia.
Gamini who lives with his wife and two young daughters, one aged five, the other just three weeks old, earned his livelihood through fishing. Although the income was sufficient to meet the family’s daily needs, it was not enough for Gamini. So much so he was willing to leave the family to realise his dream.
‘At first I was afraid but our plight made me determined to realise my dreams. I wanted to go to Australia because one of my friends over there said that they earned good money."
According to Gamini the journey started off well, but on the second day after having covered thousands of miles, a few youngsters complained of sea sickness. They began to vomit and refused to eat. They ran into more trouble after the fifth day when the trawler was caught in stormy seas. The men curled up in the dingy cabin were thrown out of their bunks.
"This really frightened us. Some pleaded with the ‘skipper’ to turn back, while some others wanted to proceed. Anyway it would have been impossible to turn back as we had covered a long distance. Added to our woes, the ferocious waves cut in through the craft, and water began to seep in. We had to take turns in baling out the water. By this time it was impossible to prepare the normal rice and curry and we were compelled to eat porridge and dried fish," explained Gamini.
Twenty one days were spent this way, when the ‘skipper,’ Lionel Tudor Fernando pointing to a strip of land far in the horizon, announced their destination, Perth. However it was to take three more days. Just as their spirits rose, an engine stopped functioning. This meant that their landing would be delayed further. By this time two of the boys were in a bad condition, even vomiting blood. They pleaded with Lionel to take them to the nearest shore.
"It was around one in the morning that we decided to disembark. We assumed that the shore was ahead but we saw the entire area was surrounded by massive rocks. We were helpless, with no way of reaching the shore. We got together and conducted a Holy Hour of prayer. When we came out, before our eyes we saw a small crack in the rocks through which we were able to manoeuvre our boat. "
As soon as the 15 men were dropped on shore at Coral Bay, Lionel and his crew of five turned back. According to Lionel his job was to see that the group of 15 reached the shore.
"I was instructed to take them to Perth. But as soon as they knew that land was ahead they insisted on heading for the shore in two small boats we had brought with us. Having done my job, I turned back. The leader of the group, Gamini was so thrilled that they had landed in Australia, that he embraced me for bringing them to a ‘paradise’."
Paradise was however, far from their reach, though the group were little aware of the ordeal ahead.
The first thing they did was to fall on their knees to thank God.
For this purpose they had a crucifix in hand. Gamini recalled how a white bird had suddenly perched on the cross they had planted on the sand. And this had given them hope.
"All that we took from the trawler was our bags, a packet of wafer biscuits, a match box, a bottle of kerosene oil and dried fish. That night each of us filled our stomachs with two biscuits and dried fish. The next day it was worse, as all our limbs were numb," said Gamini.
Another day was spent this way. That night they climbed onto a mountain to survey the surrounding area, hoping to spot a town. They saw a light and thought that they were close to a town.
The next day following in the direction of the light they found nothing. But further they discovered the tyre marks. Immediately the men buried all their extra clothes and made up a story about their plight when they encountered the two jeeps with holiday makers. "We were told that the nearest town was 1200 miles away. We were given some food and they meanwhile informed the Coast guard’s office. In three hours some officers arrived and took us to a camp. For two days we were not questioned. We were given to eat to our hearts content. They treated us very kindly. And they assured us that after three months we would be given refugee status," said Gamini.
The men had decided to furnish bogus addresses, claiming that they were victims of the ongoing conflict. After spending 25 days at the camp, one night the men were suddenly instructed to get ready to board the plane heading for Sri Lanka. All this came as a surprise to the group who had happily dreamed of a future in Australia.
After having rubbed shoulders with death, it was surprising to hear that most of the men are still determined to go abroad. At least one member from each family is abroad and traveling abroad illegally has almost become a fad in their community. Their failure is not scorned as this is a common occurrence.
Most
men claim that it is the lack of employment that forces them to resort to such
desperate measures to seek employment abroad. Working in the Middle East, they
felt would not fetch them enough money.
The youngest of the group was 18 year old Merryl Susantha Fernando. His father was willing to mortgage his land and spend lakhs to send his only son abroad illegally rather than investing on new fishing equipment.
"I feel one has to be lucky to go to such a country. The officers were so nice to us. I feel the people in the town would have been even more polite," was Merryl’s reasoning. Merryl’s brother-in-law had attempted to migrate twice and failed and also had mortgaged two properties.
The
mother of 21 year old Lasantha, another in the group had been glad to see that
her son had reached Australia safely when they were shown on local TV as illegal
immigrants. Rita Peiris felt that a jealous party had tipped off the
authorities there.
"This was not my first attempt. Earlier I tried to enter Italy through Dubai, but was deported. Even my brother was caught in Greece after have travelled from one country to another for over a year. I vomited blood and suffered immensely, but what kept me going was the hope of a better future. I’m planning to go again, if not what can we do in Sri Lanka?" asked Lasantha.
Most of them found the money by mortgaging their properties. Some, like Tharuka (23) who lost his home after the failed voyage are homeless. Tharuka has a family of six.
The urge to live in a foreign still burns strong in many of them. They are not bothered as to how they would earn their livelihood there. For them, living abroad is prestige enough.
Continue to Plus page 2 - City traffic takes a new turn * The new traffic plan: is it the answer?
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