- by: BRENDAN NICHOLSON | From: The Australian
- November 23, 2012
OVER the years, Australia has given sanctuary to thousands
of Sri Lankans fleeing a vicious civil war, but most arriving in the past six
months have openly admitted to immigration officials that they come seeking
work.
Of
more than 12,000 asylum-seekers who have come to Australia by boat in the past
six months, about 4000 have come from Sri Lanka.
Most
of them are young men and appear to have accepted people-smugglers' assurances
that they will find work in Australia.
A
high proportion of those coming to Australia by boat from Sri Lanka now were
Sinhalese.
Many
are fishermen and the vast majority do not claim to be anything but economic
refugees.
Refugee
advocates said just because asylum-seekers were not Tamils did not mean they
were safe in Sri Lanka.
While
the bulk of the Sri Lankans seeking asylum over the years had been Tamils, they
also included members of other groups, including journalists and civil rights
activists, who'd spoken out against the government, the advocates said.
The
Sri Lankan government's position is straightforward.
According
to Sri Lankan high commissioner to Canberra, Thisara Samarasinghe, no one in
his country faces danger from the authorities and so none of those who came to
Australia were genuine refugees.
They
were, said Admiral Samarasinghe, "economic opportunists".
Many
of those coming were victims of people-smugglers, Admiral Samaasinghe said.
"They believe that if you get into a boat you are an Australian
citizen."
Those
asylum-seekers who return home voluntarily are generally entitled to grants of
up to $3000 to help them resettle in Sri Lanka or set up businesses there.
That
is designed to lessen the likelihood that they will be coerced by the smuggling
gangs to make a return trip to Australia to earn enough to repay their "fares".
Those
flown home involuntarily after having asylum applications rejected are not
entitled to this financial support.
