Tough action required from Australia to deter boat people

by Manjula FERNANDO

Despite the increasing number of boats heading to Australia being intercepted and arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy in the past several weeks, an international terrorism expert says, unless the Australian government takes tougher action to discourage the current trend, the battle with the boat people will never end.

Prof. Rohan Gunaratna, Head of International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore said the recent arrests of would be asylum seekers may have disrupted the largely LTTE - facilitated human smuggling network from Sri Lanka to Australia, but there needs to be a 'full spectrum-response' to disband the smuggling chain, which includes action and new policy at the Australian end.

He said the effort to counter illegal immigrants should also establish a strategy to tackle LTTE fronts in Australia and elsewhere, such fronts support the illegal migration process with lawyers, translators and other facilitators.

Quoting a recent research, he said that 98 percent of asylum applicants have used false information to either apply for successfully gain asylum in the country. Earlier the LTTE used converted cargo ships to smuggle people to countries such as Canada, but soon after they came under close scrutiny, the voyages were arranged in fishing trawlers, which are hard to detect in the sea, the destination also changed to Australia.

Speaking about the involvement of a TNA strongman in the illegal voyages to Australia, he said, "The TNA continues to function as a proxy of LTTE remnants overseas, including the factions engaged in human smuggling. Some TNA leaders are receiving funds, working with and representing LTTE interests."

He said until Canadian, British, French, Australian and other governments arrest the LTTE masterminds behind the smuggling ventures, these high-profit criminal ventures will continue.