The Phony asylum seekers and the deterioration of ethical standards
Posted on July 12th, 2014
Dr D.Chandraratna, Perth W.A
The latest in the attack on Sri Lanka by the enemies of the country revolves round the issue of asylum seekers to Australia. This really is a joke of mammoth proportions if not for the perils of a hazardous journey with so many infants they intentionally carry as accoutrements. The UN as the guardian of the refugee convention is out in force trying their best to hide the economic aspirations of the would-be asylum seekers from Sri Lanka. Understandably this is a welcome entry to justify Pillay’s investigation. The entire episode smacks of dishonesty, idiocy and buffoonery of these outfits. What this sordid episode tells us is that the normative principles underlying every noble profession in the world is up for grabs. The rot starts with international organizations such as the United Nations, which in the days gone by were established to preserve humanity from annihilation by killing one another. The moment western nations took a foothold in the control of these organizations through financial means they have sold them down the drain and today no right thinking nations or even an individual will give any credence to the decisions made by these INGO’s. As we have maintained in these columns for a number of years the trajectory of the UN and its Agencies under the stewardship of persons like Navi Pillay, Louis Arbor, Banki Moon and the like will never recover from the abyss. In a declining age of American imperialism it may be to the advantage of the world that these organizations become irrelevant to suffering masses. Rejuvenation if at all will be when the fake power of American hegemony is challenged by the rising power of new civilizations headed by China and Russia plus the Orient at the helm. The time is no far off.
The manner in which Sri Lanka is pilloried by the West for defeating terrorism and for extending the hand of friendship to Russia and China who were willing to respect the dignity of a small nation to preserve its sovereignty has irked the West and that fact is obvious. Two things are prominent in the news front of the West with regard to Sri Lanka. First, is the rise of ethno religious unrest, which is a mountain, built upon a molehill by the Western journos with the assistance of the NGO merchants who are financed by the West? The interest shown by the UNHRC about this is obvious given the efforts of Navi Pillay and Co to vilify Sri Lanka. Referring to the unfair manner in which the UNHRC is functioning today, Prof. Peiris said recently on the orchestrated attack on Sri Lanka spearheaded by Pillay and her coterie of assistants: ” (W) hen I was representing Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, March this year, a foreign minister who was sitting next to me said: ‘Sitting here and listening to what is going on here, one gets the impression that Sri Lanka is the most troubling country of this planet. Are we living in the real world? Look at what is happening in other parts of the world.” The charge of ethno religious persecution of minorities in the country, a scurrilous allegation will not be the subject here.
The second allegation is about the few boatloads of people who escape the shores of Lanka in order to get to Australia for economic advancement. Our gripe is against the media personnel who drive this anti Sri Lanka campaign. A few western journo’s have spearheaded the kind of checkbook journalism whereby they buy the scripts from others and publish them as investigative pieces in reputed newspapers of the west. For your entertainment let me reproduce some pieces, which will give you, rib chuckling laughter. In the Sydney morning Herald it was reported verbatim the statement of an asylum seeker
[‘Supporters of the controversial Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, or People’s Liberation Front, a Marxist-Leninist movement that has participated in two armed uprisings against Sri Lankan governments in 1971 and the late 1980s, Saparamadu says they fled for political reasons. Four of that group of eight, including Saparamadu’s mother, have been allowed to stay in Australia and are currently living in Brisbane.But Saparamadu’s three brothers were returned to Sri Lanka. She says two of her bothers, Ajith Krishantha Wanigasinhe, 32, and Susiripala Wanigasinhe, 39, have not been seen since they returned.”I don’t know if they are alive or dead,” Saparamadu said on Thursday. “My third brother, Sunil Wanigasinhe, was arrested six months later … I think he is in the prison in Negombo but I have no confirmation.” After her four family members were returned to Sri Lanka, Saparamadu gave an interview to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in which she says she was highly critical of the Sri Lankan government, led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa since 2005. “I started getting threats straight away. People calling me, threatening me. Stopping me in the street asking me how could I say such horrible things about my country,” says Saparamadu. As the harassment continued, her husband Ranjith, who is the owner of car export company in Japan where he is entitled to live and work, decided to proceed with an application for permanent residency which was, according to a number of documents shown to Fairfax Media, initiated during 2012. But as the months passed, and Ranjith continued to work in Japan, the harassment became more threatening. On February 18, 2013, Saparamadu’s son Preyon (sic) was kidnapped on his way home from school.” The kidnappers rang me quickly, not more than one hour after he was taken, and demanded money. They wanted 500,000 rupees ($4200) but I told them I only had 400,000 rupees ($3300).” ]None of this was ever reported to the police. How strange? And how strange that this investigative journalist could not even ask that simple question. How can one be so deficient in mind drawing such a fat salary?
The only truthful thing in this interview must be the ages and dates. The rest is obviously cock and bull. The comicality of this codswallop must be sufficient to take this journalist’s degree back. He should try his luck as a stand-up comedian. Should be hilarious.
Andrew Bolt writing to The Sydney Morning Herald says that the Left’s self-pleasuring rage is almost pornographic, with Fraser even tweeting the return is redolent off (sic) handing Jews to Nazis in 1930s”. The senile Mr. Fraser is a born again leftie trying to flog his book on an unsuspecting public. He has damaged his standing in the community by such intemperate comments and so unfair by the majority Sri Lankans who live in Australia.
Bolt also says Greens leader Christine Milne called the Government shocking and cruel” for sending people back to the people who have persecuted them”. But wait” he says. First, if Sri Lanka really is a tropical Third Reich, why did newspapers report in December 2011 that Milne was off on a holiday in Sri Lanka and a rare chance to relax”? We are also interested to know whether some one else paid for the trip because an interested party, which suggests that it was an organized tour, met her on arrival.
Bolt is asking ‘If Sri Lanka’s Tamils are so persecuted, why did the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees last month boast that it had helped over 11,400 Sri Lankan refugees who have returned voluntarily to restart their lives”? Why did the UNHCR also praise Sri Lanka for its great strides in reintegrating 573,651 returning internally displaced persons”, mostly Tamils driven from their homes by the civil war?’ Is this a quote? If so where is the source?
And why did the most famous Tamil, spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, attack Western critics, saying: In wartime I went with the UN, I saw (the Tamil north), how it was. Now I regularly go and I see the place and it is about a 1000 per cent improvement in facilities.” Prime Minister Cameron was non-plussed when Murali put this to him.
‘But let’s not be so naive about the motives of Tamils claiming to be refugees, and choosing to sail 5400km to Australia when they can seek refuge in Tamilnadu just 30 km from Jaffna.’ In fact they will not go back to Tamil Nadu as per the Refugee Convention. The silly lawyers who bag money for their human rights work cannot even comprehend that.
Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald, for instance, portrayed the latest boatloads of Tamils as fleeing a country suspected of systematic abductions, torture, rape, extrajudicial killings and the ‘disappearing’ of its citizens”. But the story eventually quoted the wife of one of the Tamils, who admitted her husband had actually been living lately in Tamil Nadu. Moreover, he had crippling debts and had needed to escape to a country where he could earn money”.
A Sri Lankan commented that ‘to date Australia has returned around 100 thousand Sri Lankan asylum seekers back to Sri Lanka. None has been harmed and moreover these asylum seekers are of no importance to the state to take such notice. They want a better life and who can blame them except for the false allegations. It is time for Colombo to take action to rebuke these accusations which are as damaging to the nation of Sri Lanka. Colombo has a duty to end this ongoing propaganda used by opportunists be they Tamils or Sinhalese who vilify Sri Lanka with false accusations of torture if they are returned. It is obvious by now that the end of the Elam war did not bring any praise from the world but condemnation. If these lies persist then any asylum seeker lying in foreign shores should not be accepted back.
We have to agree with comments made by respectable writers who say loudly that ’It is obvious the Australian Green’s party is politically, morally and possibly financially a bankrupt party. And it is well known the Tamil tigers aka the LTTE has the financial and political power to attract such bankrupt parties and other unsuspecting powerful people like Hilary Clinton, the British, Canadian and some Australian politicians and NGO’s etc. to do their dirty work.’ There is so much that our missions abroad can do to stop this humbug.
July 11th, 2014 at 5:18 pm
“According to one eerie estimate, 800 asylum seekers — men, women and children — have set off for Australia in the past three years and have simply never been heard from again.
Antonyamma, a Tamil refugee from Sri Lanka living in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, last heard from her daughter Mary more than a year ago when the younger woman had boarded a boat heading for Australia, along with seven other members of her family, including four children aged under 9.
In total, 63 people from their community were on the same boat, which left the Indian port of Kochi on May 1, 2013. None have been heard from since.”
-time
This is the solution to the Tamil Elam problem. Arrange a LOW COST boat service to Australia, Canada, UK, etc. The boat sinks mid sea without a trace. SL is happy, Australia is happy. NO human rights or war crimes evidence.
July 12th, 2014 at 1:28 am
The fact of the matter is that Tamil Nadu would much rather annex Sri Lanka and the surrounding sea in an extended TN borders, and let TN tamils flow into SLK. Current SLK refugees use TN as a staging post go somewhere else richer, where they could become a liability to the tax payers of those countries. TN treats refugees into its borders under terrible conditions, in camps filled with lice and dysentry; UN inspectors that enter those camps do not have eyes, ears or noses. Whichever angle one looks at this problem, it just boils down to the same nomadic practice of humans and animals. Go where the grass is greener, it does not matter what ploy one adopts or if the greener grass is indigestible or not. After all, humans that evolved from animals are just another specise
July 12th, 2014 at 10:32 am
One of the problems of the United Nation is that they follow an ideology of the progressive liberals. What does that mean? It is a twisted notion of human rights. Take for instance the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas held Palestine.
Most of the weapons and the leaders hide in Mosques, schools, among civilian neighborhoods and store their weapons in exactly the same places. To date Israel has been bombarded by rockets on an ongoing basis by Hamas. The response from the UN has been dead silence.
When finally Israel retaliated targeting these sites the criticism from the United Nation has steadily increased regardless that they have been silent when Hamas a known terrorist organization has been bombing Israel and regardless that Hamas is using civilians in a similar manner to that of the Tamil Tigers, they only show “concern” to the “excesses” of Israel when she is defending herself.
that is twisted logic. They are using the same lop sided logic to analysis Sri Lanka. if Sri Lanka albeit Colombo wants to function as an independent nation it has to at time and I would state most times ignore the knee jerk reaction from the UN of human rights violations and do what Sri Lanka sees best. If the UN needs explanations they can come AFTER Sri Lanka has done what she needs to do. In simple terms treat the UN as “useful idiots” and nothing more.
July 12th, 2014 at 5:49 pm
@ Mr Bernard Wijesinha while you sir make many good contributions to this forum. I must take issue with you regarding the Isreali response in Gaza. There are certainly some Islamic extremist terrorists hiding amongst the Palestinian population. The rockets they launch are little more than souped up 4th of July firecrackers. However the Isrealis go and bomb and kill 28 palestinian children using weopons given to them by the western nations in particular the United States. Why should 28 children die for the wrongs of one or two terrorists. Isreal could have sent a commando team to hunt down specific terrorist targets instead of the totally disproportionate response. Obviously for them Isreali blood of their soldiers is more important than the blood of innocent palestinians. I find it astonishing that you can support a lunatic like Netanyahu. Also explain why Netanyahu is supporting Islamic Extremists in Iraq and Syria but thinks it perfectly legitimate to bomb palestinians enmasse just to get in their eyes one Islamic extremist terrorist in Gaza. Isreal pursues evil policies. You and Lorenzo’s blind support for this state is I find a bit disturbing. But let me say these are my personaly opinions that I have come to after much research and thought on the middle east. Also it might surprise you that the British and the Americans through the Rothchild banking establishment in the City of London. Created the state of Isreal after promising the Arabs, palestine. Now most Palestinian Arabs are boxed in Gaza and west bank and more of former territories are being eaten up by the Zionist state of Isreal. Please if you are going to support another country at least do some background research. Maybe you and Lorenzo would prefer to hang on to your blind faith in the criminal state of Isreal. I for one will not suffer delusions unlike some such as yourself and Lorenzo regarding Isreal.
July 13th, 2014 at 3:45 am
Lorenzo,
While we deplore the deceitful methods employed by Tamil refugee seekers, we cannot take comfort from the misfortunes some of them have suffered by drowning at sea. And I doubt if there will be many takers from readers of this site, for your bizarre suggestion of putting asylum seekers on boats that are likely to sink ‘mid sea without a trace’.
As for Dr C’s article, I am not sure whether it is Western nations that brought corrupting influences to the UN and its agencies or that came with the likes of Navi Pillay succeeding to high office within the organisation. What we have seen is that Asians and Africans seem to pursue their objectives with a zeal and near crusading passion not seen with the Caucasians.
The two newspapers articles referred to are indicative of the Australians perhaps now becoming more aware of the real situation with the Tamil ‘boat people’. But I think they have yet to fully appreciate the link between Tamils already established in Australia and those getting on these boats to now get there. Media reports said that some Tamils in Australia had been in touch with those on the boat now being held somewhere on the high seas, and they are the ones who reported the number of children and infants aboard and those allegedly in danger of their lives if sent to SL. Now, it must be clear to anybody that, some or many or maybe even most of those on the boat have been financed, advised and/or sponsored by their ‘cousins’ already in Australia. The media do not seem to have grasped this simple point.
Tamils already settled in Australia have very cleverly positioned themselves in various organisations and have been able to effectively lobby politicians and others to promote their cause. A favourite device has been to form ‘friendship’ or ‘solidarity’ associations to which they have lured unsuspecting Australians and invited them to become their chairmen.
The Australians are for the most part generous and compassionate people not used to the devious ways of the oriental. Many unsuspecting and noble minded people get sucked in by the apparent harrowing tales of would be refugees. And the Tamils from SL – and, let’s be fair, as well as others from elsewhere – have been only too keen to take advantage of this.
I am afraid that Malcolm Fraser is one who has unwittingly got involved in this manner. Fraser championed the cause of multiculturalism when it was not popular to do so. He showed great compassion towards the Vietnamese refugees and took a principled stand against apartheid in South Africa. Given that record, it is a pity that he should now be making silly statements in regard to the Tamil boat people and using such extravagant language as to liken returning boat people to SL with handing the Jews to the Nazis. It may well be that, now ignored in retirement, he welcomed an opportunity to have his voice heard again!
Former politicians (and for that matter, even contemporary ones) do not cut much ice with the general public in Australia. That includes Fraser. The Greens, are regarded by many as a group of weirdos who have acquired political power thanks to the quirks of the electoral system. So, the support of Fraser and the Greens for the Tamil cause may in fact act to their detriment.
We can be sure that the Tamils will continue their relentless efforts to denigrate the SL government and win the sympathy of the Australian authorities to get more of their number across and will have no scruples about the ways and means they employ or of the falsehoods they state. As Dr C says, there’s much for the SL government and its missions abroad to do, to counter their efforts.
July 13th, 2014 at 7:38 am
Terrorism, refugees, human rights NGOs etc are modern day industries exploited by the greedy and shameless thick skinned individuals, resorting to unethical conduct.
Current problem of “refugees” is not going to end in a hurry as it is a money spinner for the human smugglers, the NGOs, journalists and politicians who campaign for them, the refugee lawyers, the interpreters, the security companies etc. Each landing of a ‘refugee’, generates jobs for each of the above mentioned individuals and they will make up bogus stories to keep the industry going.
July 13th, 2014 at 2:23 pm
Cassandra,
Thanks for that information.
Everything failing, Tamils will resort to another July 1983 type SELF HARM operation. That is sure to win the outpouring hearts.
Canada closed their borders to Tamil illegals before Australia.
But I DISAGREE Australia stopped them because they REALIZED the lies of Tamils. They ALWAYS KNEW these lies. Only now they came to realize the IMPACT of Tamil parasites on their country.
As for my boat strategy, it is the ONLY way the BIGGER PROBLEM affecting SL and Australia can be resolved for good. Sea surrounding SL protected it in the past. It should be used more creatively to protect us.