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Fishing boat hijacking:
Australian coastguard alerted
Sri Lankan authorities have alerted the Australian coastguard about
the missing fishing trawler that was hijacked by a group of armed men on
October 14 to transport illegal immigrants down under.
A senior investigating officer of the Matara Police said the illegal
immigrants will be extradited by the Australian Government to facilitate
action against them under Sri Lanka’s law.The senior officer said they
have not ruled out the fact that the hijacking of the boat may be an
inside job. Investigators have been tipped off that some fishermen in
the area were involved in human smuggling which is more lucrative than
their traditional job. The police have warned boat owners to be cautious
of the fishermen they hire.
Following the brutal attack on the vessel Chejan, two crew members
were rescued by two merchant ships on the southern seas off Sri Lanka
while they were drifting in the deep seas, exhausted and dehydrated.
They had struggled to stay afloat for over seven hours. One fisherman
who was knifed by the pirates before being thrown in the sea was in
serious condition. Both have now been discharged from the Karapitiya
hospital.
Three other crew members of the boat are still missing. The relatives
fear that they may have been killed by the hijackers, but the police
suspect that they could have joined the others to go to
Australia.Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan boat incident has created shock
waves in Australia, with Opposition Leader Tony Abbot demanding an
urgent investigation into the incident from the Julia Gillard Government
on Friday. The Sydney Morning Herald quoted him telling Nine Network,
“It’s very important that this matter be fully investigated.
If people look to have committed very serious criminal offences on
the way to Australia, well obviously people should be treated as those
who have committed or at least allegedly committed criminal offences.”
He has said apart from fully investigating any suspected criminal
activity, it should be made clear to asylum seekers that they could be
staying at Australia’s offshore processing centre in Nauru for a long
time, even five years.
- MF
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