SRI LANKA SUPPORT GROUPƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ -MEDIA RELEASE

HOW TO STOP THE TAMIL (AND OTHER) BOATS TO AUSTRALIA

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• East Timor regional solution or any other regional solutionƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  -ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  will never work; in actual fact, they are already dead

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• Pacific Solution ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚ will not stop the fake asylum-seeking Tamils (and others) from coming to Australia; they will continue to come, and at the end will end up in Australia anyway

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• Only solution to stop the Tamil (and other) boats to Australia ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Turn the boats back safely and humanely to Sri Lanka (and other source countries of the boats).

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Why will the East Timor regional solution or any other regional solution never work?

• The countries in question are diverse ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” they will never be able to reach a multilateral solution to such a complex question.
• As already seen, countries like East Timor will start dictating difficult terms to Australia. Also, it is evident that the President and the Prime Minister of East Timor do not talk in one voice, hence Australia will get bogged down with the East TimorƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s internal politics
• What if members of the regional solution pull out or dictate difficult/impossible terms to Australia?
• Since Indonesia is a part of the regional solution with East Timor (where New Zealand is also involved), there will never be a consensus to the key issues of the problem
• It will be Australia that has to pay the total or majority of the bill for the exercise, which could be enormous (may amount to several hundreds of millions of dollars every year)
• Given that several countries are involved, it will take too long (several years) to establish a regional centre, by that time hundreds or thousands more of boats will arrive
• Australia has already spent millions of dollars to set up an asylum seeker shelter in Nauru, this will be a total waste of taxpayer funds
• The regional centre might become a holiday centre forƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the vagrants of Asia and Africa, who will have good time in the host country (East Timor) with Australia paying the full bills until the vagrants end up in Australia as permanent residents
• As it is a regional centre, Australia will not have much control in processing the asylum claims and the UN system, which is corrupt and inefficient, will dominate

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Why is it that the Pacific Solution is not the best solution to fix this problem permanently?

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• It is true that when the previous Pacific Solution was in operation the number of boats was drastically reduced from coming to Australia, but they did still come.
• It took too long to process the asylum seeker applications, and Australia spent enormous amounts of money in Nauru to process the claims
• Australia was compelled to listen to the concerns expressed by Nauru, meaning that the moment there is another country or countries involved, Australia will not be able to apply its asylum seeker policy willy nilly. It will be subject to the conditions of the other country/countries involved
• Asylum seekers were idle for several months in Nauru before they were airlifted to various cities of Australia, so the people smugglers continued to sell the end result they advertised as the end result was positive (Nauru Foreign Minister confirmed this saying the asylum seekers had a good time in their country playing soccer etc ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” why should the Australian taxpayer spend money for these)
• The opposition argues that Nauru is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention
• At the end, more than 98% of those who were in the camps in Nauru ended up getting refugee status and they are all now settled down in Australia. People smugglers know this, thus they will continue to sell their product to their target well.
• When the Pacific Solution was on, the Tamils, who have now mastered the tactic of travelling to Australia by boats,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  had not started to their ventures by boats in very large numbers

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The best solution

• Return the Tamil (and other) boats back to Sri Lanka (and the source countries) with the assistance of the Australian coast guard/navy in a most humane and humanitarian way. This means the Australia coast guard/navy will accompany the boats back to their source countries safely. Australia will take the responsibility for them until they are safely off loaded in the source country and, if required, Australia can explore the possibility of processing the claims of those would-be asylum seekers inside those source countries. There is another possibility for Tamil asylum seekers ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” they can be sent to the Tamil refugee camps in South India, in collaboration with the Government of India (there are number such camps there already).
• Even if the people smugglers or the asylum seekers damage their vessels causing the boats to sink etc., the Australian coast guard/navy will be able to toe the boats back to the source country or re-board the asylum seekers into a new vessel.
• This is the only way that the people smugglers can be given a firm slap to the face and a lesson that they will learn so well.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They will realise that there is no point of transporting their human cargo in rickety boats for exorbitant fees. Voyaging the dangerous seas as the end result will be fruitless, and they will give up their business after few boats had been turned back.
• (Australia is currently saying that they will stop the boats in East Timor or Indonesia, but this does not much happen,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  even now, the people smugglers sail directly to Australia, bypassing those countries).

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Another way to stop the Tamil boats

• The Australian Government must talk seriously to Sri Lanka and provide every assistance to Sri Lanka to stop the Tamil boats. Though Australia states it has already done so, it had not been done well. The Australian Foreign Minister visited Sri Lanka to discuss this issue only once.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ThatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s why the Tamil boats keep coming. If Australia offers money and other assistance to Sri Lanka to improve its coast guards/naval surveillance to stop the Tamil boats, then the Sri Lankan Government will became serious and stop the boats completely. Again, if Australia works with Sri Lanka in a fair dinkum manner, the Tamil boats can be stopped.

Why is turning back the boats the best solution to stop the boats, especially Tamil ones?

• It is well known that among the asylum seekers are ex Tamil Tigers and Tamil thugs who have engaged in gang violence in other countries
• Former Tamil Tigers have been positively identified in some of the asylum seeker vessels that have reached Australia, including the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Oceanic VikingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ (ASIO identified 4 Tamils as being of bad character on the Oceanic Viking). Of the 250 Tamils who are on a boat currently berthed in Merak, Indonesia, who are eagerly waiting to come to Australia, several Tamil Tigers (both male and female) have been positively identified, plus as stated before Tamil thugs (eg Kulendrarajh or Alex, who was on the boatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  berthed in Merak had been deported from Canada for street violence; he was the spokesperson for the Tamils in that boat, and then he suddenly disappeared some time ago, he presumably had also been living in South India for sometime allegedly organising people smuggling activities).
• According to Sri Lankan Security experts a boatload of another 200 -250ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Tamils, strongly suspected to be containing large numbersƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  of Tamil Tigers have left Sri Lanka recently on its way either to Canada or Australia.

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Are the Tamils genuine refugees or bogus refugees? Why would the Tamils come to Australia which is a far away country and not go by boat to South India? South India, the birthplace of the Tamil race (where 60 million Tamils live), is only 32 km away from northern Sri Lanka, and home to camps already set up to accept such boat people

• There is no persecution of TamilsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  taking place in Sri Lanka. All communities are living in peace and harmony in Sri Lanka (about 40% of ColomboƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s population is Tamil)
• Australia has become a magnet for Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers. They use the civil war that ended in Sri Lanka more than a year ago as an excuse to come to Australia in droves of boats.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 
• Why should they come to Australia now when the civil war ended more thanƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  a year ago? UNHCR and other agencies have stated that the conditions in Sri Lanka have drastically improved for the Tamils living there. There is no reason for the Tamils to get into boats and pay thousands of dollars to get to Australia, other than economic reasons.
• There are established people smugglers (ie, mostly the LTTE, in regards to the Tamils)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  who have a fine product to sell (Australia).ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  As long as the people smugglers are dealing with the Tamils they will continue to come, no matter if Sri Lanka provides a fine living conditions for them, as the standard of living in Australia is better than of Sri Lanka.
• If Tamils are genuine refugees, they can sail in boats to South India easily. It is only 32 km away from Sri Lanka, there are well-equipped UNHCR and South Indian Government refugee camps established there to welcome them.
• What Australia must understand is that the Tamil boats will continue to come in large numbers. They are very clever in circumventing the Australian laws. Australia must be cleverer to defeat them.
• There is aƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  flyer spreading around in northern and eastern Sri Lanka among the Tamils thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  states ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-if you want a good life simply hop on to a boat to Australia, within a short time you will beƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the owner of a nice house there.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

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Are they only Tamils from Sri Lanka in those Tamil boats to Australia?

• Tamils are coming to Australia in boats not only from Sri Lanka but also from countries like South India and Malaysia ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚ not because of anything else but to enjoy a good life in Australia. The standard of living in Australia is much higher than in Sri Lanka and other countries, so Australia is a magnet for those who aspire to have a good life, including the Sri Lankan Tamils.

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Are the Australians being taken for a ride by the Tamils who come to Australia by boats in large numbers?

• By way of boat it is very easy to get to Australia. There is no immigration, no customs, no police ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚ you just arrive and then you are welcomed with warm hearts, loving kindness and friendly gestures. The only risk is the requirement to spend number of days on the rough seas, but the people smugglers paint rosy pictures of the journey to those who are interested, as their only concern is to fatten their wallets.
• For Sri Lankan Tamils the biggest advantage is that the Christmas Island and Cocos Island are situated within reasonable proximity to Sri Lanka. They do not need to berth in Indonesia to sail toward to these islands. They can even come via other countries, like Malaysia and Thailand, which means AustraliaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s attempt to stop the Tamil boats in Indonesia or East Timor may be a futile exercise. They just raise hopes in anticipation of again countering the problem but it is in vain. Australia is not winning, but the people smugglers are.
• Australia is spending millions of taxpayersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ dollars to provide a 5-star treatment to the illegal boat people.
• Steve Fielding (Senator) after visiting the Christmas Island detention centre statedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  “Facilities on Christmas Island are pretty good and look more like a motel than a detention centre…. Detainees on the island get good accommodation, great food, phone and internet access and then within three months get a gold pass to live in Australia. …It was better treatment than many Australians got from the Government.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
• Australia is spending millions of taxpayer money to provide a 5 star treatment to the illegal boat people, people smugglers will continue to spread this positive message to their respective products.
• This joke must come to an end now, not tomorrow.

Is there a refugee problem in Sri Lanka (are the Tamils being discriminated against in Sri Lanka)?

• Fundamentally there is no reason for the Tamils to flee Sri Lanka to Australia as refugees now. They are only economic migrants. Tamils are not fleeing persecution when they travel to Australia,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  as persecution of any nationality does not take place in the present day Sri Lanka.
• The Sri Lankan Government is looking after its minorities so well:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Recently, the country borrowed close to US $3 billion from the IMF at high interest rates to spend it on the new infrastructure for the Tamils.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  An enormous amount of infrastructure development has already been undertaken in the North and Eastern ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ parts of Sri Lanka. Most of the Tamil refugee camps in the country are now closed. Tamils and Sinhalese are living in harmony and are friends in the country. In Colombo City more than 40% of the population is Tamil.
• Tamils are indigenous to Tamilnadu. In Tamil Nadu, there are 60 million Tamils living there. And the Tamilnadu government is ever willing to accept any Sri LankanƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Tamil who wants to live there (there are already 120,000 Sri Lankan Tamils in camps there). If the Sri Lankan Government is persecuting the Tamils as falsely alleged by the TamilsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  who flee to Australia, then they should go to Tamilnadu which is only 32 km away from Sri Lanka. Then they do not need to risk their lives and travel to Australia which is a far away country.
• Some months ago, a parliamentary delegation fromƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Tamilnadu commended the Sri Lankan Government for the excellent manner in which the IDPs (Internally DisplacedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Persons) were treated in the camps and subsequently resettled in their original places.
• If persecution of Tamils are taking place in Sri Lanka (as falsely claimed by the Tamils to obtain refugee status in Australia) the Tamilnadu and the Indian Governments would not simply sit and tolerate such persecution. They will even send their forces to Sri Lanka to rescue the Tamils. In 1986 India violated Sri Lankan air space and sent her planes to Sri Lanka in order to show support for the Tamils.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  When it comes to the Tamils, Sri Lanka is constantly under pressure from India and is under their most watchful eye. Even 3 weeks ago a delegation of Sri Lankan Tamil parliamentarians are met with the Prime Minster of India directly in New Delhi to discuss their problems.
• Since India is keeping such a close eye on Sri Lanka, plus rest of the world, there is no way that Tamils can be ill treated in Sri Lanka, though they falsely say that this is the case.
• The God like manner in whichƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the Sri Lankans (ie, the Sinhalese) treat the cricketer Muralitharan,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  who is a Tamil, shows nothing else but their inestimable love for the Tamils.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  If the Sinhalese are racists they would not treat Murlaitharan like that, they do not treat their other CricketingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Hero, Sanath Jayasuriya, a Sinhalese, like that.

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How big is the Tamil asylum seeker problem?

• The Tamil people smugglers are now firmly established in a variety of their bases in Asia. It is feared that they are now using the former Tamil Tiger vessels to transport the Tamils (each vessel is said to contain scores of former Tamil Tigers, who are considered the most vicious terrorist group ever). With so much money, all the infrastructure in place and there being so much sympathy for them in Australia (actively promoted by the Australian Greens, other leftist parties, the ACTU, and some famous lawyersƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  of Australia), Tamils will continue to come in very large numbers to Australia. This form of conduct – playing politics with people to garner votes at the elections, and attempts to secure clients for themselves, does not amount to acting in the best interests of Australia.

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When giving asylum to Tamils, Australia must consider the safety and other concerns of the Sinhalese Sri Lankans living in Australia, who are the majority of Sri Lankan-Australians living in Australia

• By encouragingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Tamils onlyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to come to Australia illegally in boats, including former Tamil Tigers, the lives of the Sinhalese in Australia are kept in danger. Those who talk against the Tamil Tigers in Australia are taking a great risk in their own lives by coming out in the open to criticise them.
• There are Tamil thugs in this country who have harmed innocent Sinhalese who live here. Then the Tamil Tigers are keep coming to Australia in the boats.
• When the Tamil Tigers were defeated, some angry Tamils went on a rampage attacking innocent Sinhalese living in Australia. Acid was thrown at two innocent Sinhalese students in Sydney. Those two students had nothing to do with Tamils. They had only come back after a hard dayƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s work in the middle of night and went to sleep. They were attacked while they were in deep sleep. They had not even known these Tamil thugs before. This incident happened immediately after, the Tamil Tigers were militarily defeated.
• Within a few days of the Tiger defeat, about five Sinhalese shops in Melbourne were attacked by Tamils.
• Because some Sinhalese people are talking against the Tamil Tigers and Tamil Diaspora it is possible that they could be harmed in Australia.
• There is no special protection afforded by the Australian Security to those who criticise the Tamil Tigers and Tamil Diaspora.
• On the other hand, there is emphasis only on the protection of Tamils who allegedly fleeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ persecutionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in Sri Lanka. Australia should not be acting in a biased manner.
• By encouraging the influx of Tamil boat people, Australia is damaging the current equilibrium of Sinhalese/Tamils in Australia which is about 70/30. Today more and more Tamils are coming to Australia not the Sinhalese.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This trend is extremely damaging to Australia ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…”the ethnic equilibrium that existed in the country throughout the years must be maintained, as Sinhalese have been exceptionally goodƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  settlers ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  this country.

Why is it important that the Tamil boat people to Australia must not be accepted?

• Australia must be protected from illegal arrivals, especially illegal boat arrivals.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  We do not want mass murderers, rapists and child killers to be inundated within Australia. It is too naƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚¯ve to say that these people will not resort to violence in Australia. One day these people could cause massive chaos and carnage in Australia.
• There is no doubt that with time the Tamil Tigers who will be allowed to stay in Australia as terrorists will resort to untold criminal activities ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” this is what is happening in the large Tamil ghettos that have popped up in western countries like the UK, the USA, Canada, France, Norway the Netherlands and Germany.
• We must not forget that Tamil Tigers were the most brutal terrorists that could ever be imagined. TheyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  split open bellies of rural pregnant Sinhalese mothers, killed rural Sinhalese infants after grabbing them from feeding mothers and then smashing them down on the ground, killed Buddhist and Muslim priests cold bloodedly and committed various other brutal and heinous crimes against the Sinhalese (and some Muslims) such as suicide bombings, rape, bus bombings, and the killing of thousands Sinhalese , Muslim and innocent Tamils by numerous other brutal ways.
• Not all Tamil asylum seekers are ex terrorists, some are good, decent people. But even if each boat contains a few ex-terrorists this is a great cause for alarm. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Australians are peace-loving, compassionate people. Their kindness should not be taken for granted and it should not be seen as a weakness. By allowing any crook to get into Australia by boats, well, Australia is placing its citizensƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ lives and national security at very grave risk.
• The way the Tamil boat people have confronted the authorities in the boats berthed in Indonesia (also of those who were on the Oceanic Viking),ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  has not created a positive impression upon the average Australian.
• As long as there are people smugglers with rickety old boats, and those who are eager to have a good life in Australia, the problem of asylum seekers will exacerbate in the future, not decline. People smugglers will devise new methods to counter the strategies adopted by the Australian Government, and they have little concern for the cargo that they carry, as long as their wallets are filled with dollars.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Thus far only they have won, not the Australian Government (more than 150 boats have arrived in Australia this year alone!).

What else must Australia should do to stop the Tamil Boats to Australia?

• Even though the Australian Government states the contrary, it is possible that the Sri Lankan Government is not too keen to stop the Tamils leaving the Sri Lankan shores in boats. Who wouldnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t like to palm off bad rubbish to another country, especially when the cargo may contain deadly ex terrorists? Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s redress may cause a headache in Australia. It could be that Sri Lanka considers Australia as its dumping ground (Australia and New Zealand are the only western countries that did not ban the Tamil Tigers) and it is believed that Australia is still a strong fundraising country for the Tamil Tigers. Fundraising by the Tamil Tigers is now dead in Sri Lanka and most of the western countries (all of them have banned the Tamil Tigers), but the Tamil Tigers are very much alive in Australia. Australia has given them somewhat a free hand to operate.
• It is now costing enormous amounts of money to bring all peoples in Sri Lanka together. Australia must positively assist Sri Lanka in this regard.

Why is it difficult to have a rational debate about the boat people in Australia?

• In Australia those who criticise the Tamil Boat rort that is going on are blamed and condemned as racists and inhuman. It has become politically incorrect in Australia to speak against the illegal boat arrivals.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Some political party leaders would condemn anyone who tries to show the true picture. They know they can win votes on the back of the refugee label. This is unhealthy and not in the best interests of Australia, and could become a dangerous modus operandi for the country.
• What Australians do not know is that there are Sinhalese also coming on those boats (this shows that Sri Lankans are not fleeing the country due to persecution). Whenever Sinhalese boat people are found they are immediately sent back to Sri Lanka. Some Sinhalese are known to have been successful in falsely claiming that they are Tamils.

The manner in which the Tamil asylum seekers obtain refugee status in Australia

• It is believed if you are a Tamil from Sri Lanka, there is a 98% success rate for obtaining refugee status in Australia.
• The Sri Lankan Tamils know that within a few years of arriving in Australia, they will get their PR (permanent residence) and that they will get to own their beautiful home in Australia — something they might never have been able to achieve during their lifetime should they have stayed in Sri Lanka.
• The advantage for the Sri Lankan Tamils is that they have all the help and assistance available to them from the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in Australia, which is highly organised. They also get assistanceƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  from leftist Australian Political Parties (the Australian Greens, Socialist Alliance etc.) andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  much sympathy from the ACTU and other trade unions.
• Apart from the Tamil boat people, thousands of more Tamils have been granted refugee status in Australia, especially those who have come on Visitor, Student and other Temporary Visas.
• As stated before some of these Tamils are not travelling to Australia from Sri Lanka but from other countries like Malaysia (eg. The boat currently berthed in Merak). As stated before there are 60 million Tamils living in Tamilnadu, India. When they come here, they can say they are Sri Lankan Tamils because they know the chance of obtaining refugee status becomes very high (it is well known that the boat people usually come without any travel or other identity documents, thus to find out their correct country of origin is pretty difficult).
• It is very easy for the Tamils to get refugee status here in Australia. It is stated that there are syndicates of Tamil lawyers/migration agents and other professionals who will advise the TamilsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  on how to put in the best possible refugee application. Tamil lawyers/migration agents are stated to have obtained suitable precedents from the Australian Courts (including the High Court) and they also use aspects of the reports of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group etc, to further the Tamil refugee claims. UNHCR merely rubber stamps each and every Tamil asylum seeker application, so it is very easy for the Tamils to obtain refugee status in Australia.

Problems with AustraliaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s onshore refugee assessment system

• Sadly, with our onshore refugee system in Australia, it has come to a situation where the best and most successful refugee applications have the most blatant lies. As stated before, there are people who coach and guide refugee applicants on how to best give evidence at the Tribunal, etc. Some even teach people how to cry before the Tribunal members. People are taking undue advantage of AustraliaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s most compassionate, humanitarian system to get refugee status. Members of the RRT (Refugee Review Tribunal) and UNHCR may have a vested interested in granting refugee status willy nilly even to dubious refugee applicants, so that they may continue to keep their jobs. It is time to investigate the functions of the UNHCR/Refugee Review Tribunal.

How should Australia accept its refugees and control the current problems of its refugee program?

• If Australia wants to accept 100% genuine refugees then the screening of them must be done within the source country itself. Genuine refugees most of the time do not have the means and the ability to flee in boats/planes and pay thousands of dollars to people smugglers. Genuine refugees are the ones who are trapped in camps in their respective source countries. They are left with the clothes that they are wearing. It is they that Australia must go seek, not those who come to our shores illegally and some who behave in a thug type manner.
• For Australia to say that they have accepted the asylum seekers into this country after thorough checks of their character is nothing but a farce: for migration purposes, Australia only wants a police report to be provided by the personƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s resident country.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Getting forged documents is easy from countries like Sri Lanka. People will always bribe government officials, etc. and get the report they want. Otherwise, they can change their names. If you change your name it will be especially difficult for the local police to find your whereabouts in Sri Lanka. In areas like Jaffna, where the Tamils ran a defacto state for several years, the local Sri Lankan police do not have records of the people in those areas as there had not been any police stations in the areas.

Will the Tamil (and other) boats eventually die down?

• It was the then Prime Minster of Malaysia who once stated that if Australia would not open up its boarders to the people of neighbouring countries who live in crowded conditions they should get into boats and travel to Australia by force. The trend of the boat people will continue for years to come. It is reported that 35 Vietnamese boat people arrived in Australia few weeks ago. What is the push factor for them to leave Vietnam? None. The pull factor for them to reach Australia? Enormous.
• What if the millions of Chinese or Indians decide to get into boats and come to Australia one day? Anything of this nature can happen in the future, it is not mere speculation.
• Australia must be ready now to face any situation that may happenƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  in the future, bearing in mind that the people smugglers are using very sophisticated methods to sell their product.
• Hence, Australia must have a sound, coherent policy to tackle this most-alarming problem.

The truth about the Tamil asylum seekers to Australia

• Although there had been Sinhalese in the Tamil Tiger boats (a rare occurrence) to our knowledge, in the last 5 years, not a single Sinhalese person has been granted asylum in Australia. Some Sinhalese have obtained refugee status claiming them to be Sri Lankan Tamils.

Why is a proper discourse in Australia about the Tamil boats required?

• It is unfortunate that the media and the politicians in Australia are mum about the Tamil violence in Australia. Not a single human rights organisation came forward to offer sympathy to the two innocent Sinhalese students who were covered with acid in Sydney, nor the Sinhalese shopkeepers who faced attacks in major cities in Australia. This form of conduct is not fair and shows hypocrisy.

What will the asylum seeker problem in Australia be like in the future?

• As suggested and encouraged by the former leader of Malaysia, the number of asylum seekers to Australia will increase dramatically over the years to come. They will not come only from Sri Lanka or Afghanistan but from many other countries around.
• It is only a matter of time before the people smugglers become well-established in those countries.
• Australia is surrounded by number of Asian and South Pacific Island countries. It will be a hop, skip and a jump away for someone who can get into a boat and travel to Australia. This will happen in greater numbers in times to come. Hence, Australia must have strong mechanisms to face these situations, given that our coast line is enormous.
• The illegal arrivals to the country will affect the Australian way of life (it is already hitting us badly).
• Our future generations should not be faced with this problem, we must deal with this now.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  After the problem is entrenched with more and more people smugglers having established their foothold in many other surrounding countries to Australia, and having to face thousands of boats coming to our shores, we might say, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-sorry, we have to lost the courseƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ (of course the do-gooders like Bob Brown, Sarah Hanson-Young and the prominent lawyers who actively promote the granting of asylumƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to the boat people may say it is no problem at all, because it is a problem faced by the present-day and future average Australian, not those who may derive a benefit directly or indirectly from the problem.
• It is true that the Australian Government somewhat nipped the problem in the bud during Howard era by introducing the Pacific Solution. But it might not be enoughƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to stop the boats, the only and best solution will be to turning back the boats.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

LetƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s do justice for those who are already in the queue

• There are thousands of people in the world who are trying to come to Australia legally. After paying their visa fees and lawyers fees, they have to wait in agony for several years. These are highly educated, highly skilled, English-speaking, good people. How would these people feel about the whole situation ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚ should they also jump into a boat and come to Australia rather than waiting in agony for so many years?
• Again, the war in Sri Lanka finished more than 15 months ago. As stated before, those who were in camps have now been resettled. Those Tamils who are still in the camps have full freedom of movement. In Sri Lanka, they are currently living in conditions that are reasonably good. There is absolutely no reason for the Tamils to come to Australia illegally now in boats.

The end

• The fact that the Rudd Government had pandered to the gallery and exacerbated the problem, the tree of illegal migration has grown an enormous extent, and it continues to spread its roots too widely like a large octopus spreading its many legs.
• The regional solution and the Pacific solution are too difficult to be adopted, we ask that the boats be safely towed back by the Australian Navy to their source destinations, so that the boat people will be safely returned*. Australia must work closely with the source countries. Giving money to East Timor and Nauru will be like pouring water into an empty bucket.

*in actual fact this solution is the best, more practical, humane way to treat the asylum seekers and they send a definite, deterring message to the people smugglers. People smugglers must be sentenced to lengthy prison sentences and their rickety boats must be burnt down in front of their own eyes.

• Again, Australia must act courageously and boldly to get rid of this dangerous menace.
• We hope that there will be correct, bold leadership in Australia to tackle the problem of people smuggling. What we need is a permanent solution to the problem, not a bandaging the problem.

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The writer has exceptional, specialised knowledge of Australian asylum seekers laws, policies and history; he has written this article without affiliation to any political party in Australia and with only the best interests of Australia in mind.