Siva Parameswaran
A Senior Australian Police officer has reiterated their government’s policy of zero tolerance for those coming by boats to their country and warned local Sri Lankans against venturing into such activities and falling prey to Human traffickers.
A senior Police officer of the Australian Federal Police, Detective Superintendent Robert Wilson issued this warning While participating as the chief guest at the inauguration of the new police outpost of Sri Lanka’s ‘terror police’-the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to curb Human trafficking, and marine offences centering around the coastal belt in Mannar district on Thursday (26) in the district. The outpost is apparently a surveillance point, trying to check in on people trying to flee the country either due to persecution or driven by loss of livelihood.
“The main aim here is to stop people getting on boats to travel to Australia, as there We have a zero-chance policy of getting into Australia or anywhere else. We are working with the Sri Lankan Police and other authorities here to stop them getting on to the boats, and when someone gets out, we stop the boats, and people are brought back to Sri Lanka, So, no one gets into Australia”.
The ‘zero-chance policy’ of the Australian government has been commented on as highly controversial and criticized severely by the United Nations and Human Rights groups.
Pushing back people who try to escape persecution in their countries has been dubbed as ‘cruel and deadly’
Australia has pushed back close to 1,000 people in the last decade. The Aussie move came in for sharp criticism from the UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants.
In his report to the 47th session of the UN Human Rights Council in 2021, the Special Rapporteur, Chilean Lawyer, Felipe Gonzalez Morales strongly deplored the practice of turning back people who have pledged their lives to escape persecution in their home countries.
“Forcibly pushing back migrant boats is a ‘cruel and deadly practice’ that violates international law, and risks sending people back to death, torture or persecution”.
In his report, he further warned countries that militarized borders and boat interdictions were contributing to deaths, not saving lives.
However, the Australian policy of pushing back people trying to arrive there by boat is continuing.
Now, the senior Australian police officer has parroted his government’s message with a clear and stern suggestion not to embark on such a journey with the hope of reaching Australia and any such effort would not be fruitful and eventually they would be sent back to Sri Lanka.
While interacting with the local fishermen community in Mannar after the inauguration of the police station, he listened to their side of the story of why people embark on a dangerous journey due to loss of livelihood and continued economic challenges.
Locals pointed out to the Australian police official the sea level is higher than the land level by two feet in that area. Mining of Ilmenite from the shores of Mannar by an Australian company was also brought to the notice of Robert Wilson
“An Australian mining company ‘Titanium Sands Limited’ is mining Ilmenite from here. Ilmenite sand is one of the biggest assets of this island. 53.3 million tons of sand are here. Because of that Ilmenite mining by the Australian company, local fishermen are prohibited from going to that area. People are against the project and they are protesting” locals told the Aussie police officer.
Titanium Sands Ltd holds five exploration licenses for heavy mineral sands located in North West Sri Lanka on Mannar Island and the adjacent mainland coast.
Mannar fishermen also point towards to 100 MW Wind Power project coming up here.
“A lot of fishermen have lost their livelihood. That’s why they are trying to migrate to some European countries or Australia”.
Local fishermen say they are against development projects.
“Without development projects, we were living peacefully earlier. After the foreign investment development projects, we can’t live in freedom. So, some people are doing smuggling. We can’t live in this area, so, we are migrating to Australia or other places”.
Residents of Mannar coastal belt feel foreign investments are chasing them away from their daily livelihoods and their access to areas granted to companies like the Australian mining company ‘Titanium Sands Limited’ is being restricted.
Apart from sand mining by the Australian Company Manar fishermen also appraised the Aussie cop about their loss of livelihood by the Indian fishermen crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line and entering the Sri Lankan coastal waters and returning with a huge catch of marine products.
Mannar fishermen also expressed their inability to compete with their South Indian counterparts who use high-power boats with enhanced fishing gear compared to their impoverished ones.
The Indian trawlers enter the territorial waters of Sri Lanka on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday night, which can be clearly seen from the Pesalai coast, the local fisherman shared with the cop from the Australian Federal Police.
“I will raise your concerns with our High Commissioner in Colombo” Robert Wilson responded after listening to them.
Australian National News Broadcaster ABC News in their investigative report has exposed the Australian Federal Police providing equipment and assistance to the Sri Lankan CID, which has been continuously accused of kidnapping and torture.
“The AFP was central to the Government’s attempts to deal with the influx of asylum seekers fleeing the civil war in Sri Lanka.
In mid-2009 it struck a deal with Sri Lankan police to provide equipment and training to help Sri Lanka disrupt people-smuggling networks”.
The investigation by ABC in 2015 revealed over five years the AFP had given the Sri Lanka CID and other divisions of its police everything from furniture, and office equipment to high-tech intelligence programs. That included the ‘Jade Investigator software program which allows the Sri Lankan police to easily link photos, videos, intelligence reports, and other evidence together.
Funded by the Australian Federal Police to the tune of 15 million LKR, the new police outpost or the Sri Lanka CID surveillance center was inaugurated at Konthaipitti and handed over formally to the Sri Lanka Police.
Apart from the Senior Australian Police officer Robert Wilson who was the chief guest, DIG, of the Criminal Investigation Department of Sri Lanka Police Prasad Ranasinghe, DIG of Vanni area Wijesekere, Director of Prevention against Human Traffic and Marine Crimes, Senior SSP of Mannar Chandrapala and officials from the Australian High Commission participated in the inauguration.
