The Original Cave Man at PUNYELROO in Outback Australia

  … captured by Alan Marriage

Restrictions a Joke: Rejected Boatpeople sail through Tribunal

Jared Owens, in The Australian, 16 March 2013

THREE-quarters of boatpeople who appeal their failed asylum claims to the Refugee Review Tribunal are rewarded with permanent residency in Australia. As the Opposition affirmed a pledge to prevent maritime arrivals detained in Australia from seeking independent review of their cases, figures obtained exclusively by The Australian indicate the tribunal has overturned 503 departmental decisions to refuse refugee visas to boatpeople from a total of 676 cases heard since July last year. Those refugees will join more than 3200 other boat arrivals whose negative refugee assessments have been overturned on appeal since Labor introduced an independent review system in 2008.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the figures made “a mockery of the initial assessment of asylum claims” by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. “These latest figures have confirmed that under Labor’s appeals process a ‘no’ almost always turns into a ‘yes’ and the prize of permanent residence for people who arrive illegally by boat,” he said. “Even if they get a no they can just keep appealing.”

Stirring the Pot about Sri Lankan Asylum-Seekers

SEE a range of articles plus Emily Howie’s summary of previous news items

I: Surge Sri Lanka ‘payback’ … by Cameron Stewart & Paul Maley in The Australian, 2 February 2013

THE surge in asylum-seeker boats to Australia may have been quietly sanctioned at senior levels of the Sri Lankan government as a political payback for Australia’s attempts to make Colombo answer for alleged atrocities committed during its civil war. The theory has been discussed by Gillard government officials. It follows a widely asserted belief within the Australian government that a powerful Sri Lankan government official may be “complicit” in the people-smuggling trade and has facilitated the passage of dozens of boats to Australia during the past 10 months. The Australian yesterday revealed that the official is close to President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Gillard government has chosen not to confront the official, fearing that a confrontation could cause the official to step up his alleged people-smuggling activities and further undermine what has otherwise been good co-operation with members of the Sri Lankan government on people-smuggling.

BOB and GOTHA embrace cooperation on the high seas

I: “Visible links to terrorism by human smugglers” – Australian FM Sen. Bob Carr by Ranil Wijayapala

The visit of the Australian Foreign Minister, Senator Bob Carr, at a time Sri Lanka and Australia engaged in the massive task of controlling hundreds of boat people reaching Australia as illegal immigrants, provided a good forum for the two stakeholders to sit and discuss the matter at length, while laying a strong foundation to continue the relationship between the two countries as friendly nations in the future, Sri Lanka High Commissioner in Australia, Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe said.

Emily Howie’s digest of recent Australian action on asylum seekers

Emily Howie in email circular

Foreign Minister announces 4 point plan to combat people smuggling in Sri Lanka
Statement by Australia’s Foreign Minister, Bob Carr
17 December 2012
Australia’s Foreign Minister announces a four point plan to combat people smuggling, including intelligence sharing, naval cooperation, public awareness and aid, which are designed to reduce people smuggling by “destroying the people smuggling business model.” “There is a message from these talks to people in Sri Lanka – by getting on that boat you risk your life, you’ll lose your money and you will be sent back home,” Senator Carr said. The plan includes provision of additional surveillance and electronic equipment to Sri Lanka, a joint training program to develop Sri Lanka’s intelligence expertise, $700,000 for advertising campaigns warning against travelling by boat, resources and training to expand Sri Lanka’s on water disruption activities and an aid program to ‘reduce demand’ for people smugglers’ business.

Tamil Tigers likely to dominate Sri Lankan asylum-seekers

Bandula Jayasekara, in The Weekend Australian, 15/16 December 2012 … see Editorial C0mment at end

THERE is a misconception among some Australians regarding the issue of Sri Lankan asylum-seekers because of a misinformation campaign carried out by parties with vested interests. I am given to understand that some Australians sympathise with the asylum-seekers without having a clear picture of the situation. However, their sympathy would be in the interest of only the minority of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supporters, who have a long-term agenda in Australia and other Western countries.There are many concerns about remnants of the LTTE (the terrorist group that tried to divide Sri Lanka through a violent struggle) still engaged in human smuggling. For a long time, these groups have operated beyond the shores of Sri Lanka, carrying out aggressive fundraising campaigns and engaged in human smuggling and transnational crimes.

Australia frets: Bob Carr will visit Sri Lanka this week

 Foreign Minister Bob Carr will travel to Sri Lanka this week for talks on people smuggling. Source: AAP

THE AUSTRALIAN, 11 DECEMBER 2012: FOREIGN Minister Bob Carr will travel to Sri Lanka on Friday to discuss trade ties, tourism and efforts to disrupt people smuggling.  The three-day trip will be Senator Carr’s first visit to the south Asian nation as a minister and will include discussions on Australia’s aid assistance to Sri Lanka, a spokesman for the minister told AAP on Tuesday. People smuggling will also be on the agenda. Sri Lankan authorities have in the past 12 months disrupted 69 people smuggling operations involving 2900 people who were intending to come to Australia, the spokesman said. Meanwhile, HMAS Larrakia intercepted a boat carrying 57 suspected asylum seekers and two crew on Monday night, north of Ashmore Islands.

A “Fun Game.” Illuminating Tales of Tamil Asylum-Seekers from Sri Lanka, Today… late 2012

Michael Roberts

 Pic from Christian Science Monitor

TALE ONE: A Sinhala friend working among fishing and farming families on the eastern coast had an assistant and got to know the latter’s sister’s history. The sister, PDA, had a degree and had worked for an NGO at one time. But her husband was an asylum-seeker in Australia, having left by boat in 2008. Since then, he has been in limbo, still awaiting permanent status. The circumstances under which he left four years ago remain unclear. PDA had tried to get to Australia by boat and failed because the boat was apprehended. Notwithstanding this failure, she had left her NGO job and tried once again, this time from Puttalam. She also refrained from making her plans known to family and friends, particularly those she most confided in.  Eventually, her second attempt too had come a cropper. At present, she holds a government job but is still focused on getting to Australia.

Tamil Goodbye — Sri Lanka

Journeyman Pictures anchored by Mark Davis of SBS

SEE   http://youtu.be/owDY94bpY2A ………

…. AND   http://thuppahi.wordpress.com/2012/07/30/a-flourishing-bibliographical-tree-tamil-migration-asylum-seekers-and-australia/#more-6461

Sinhalese Pirate Fisherman plus unknowns on their way to Australia as asylum-seekers?

 Pic from SL Navy

Michael Roberts

A body of people, probably Sinhalese, have conspired with the skipper of a small trawler to seize the vessel off the southern coast of Sri Lanka and to head for Australia. This act of piracy involved the brutal assault and throwing overboard of five deckhands (and  three seem to have drowned**). Clearly, this group of people are seeing Australia as a land that will enable self-advancement. Apart from the misinformation on prospects in that continent, they do not seem to be aware that few Sinhalese asylum-seekers (as distinct from Tamils) make the cut — that most Sinhalese are deported.