To curb people smuggling :

Sweeping changes in Immigration Act soon

The current Immigration and Emigration Act of 1948 is to be revised with sweeping changes by the Government by April next year to combat people smuggling and to deter the flow of unlawful sea migrants to Australia.

The Department of Immigration and Emigration has prepared a draft with the proposed amendments which involve revising 90 percent of the existing provisions in the Act. The document is now with the Legal Draftsman for fine tuning.

The Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, Chulananda Perera said the amendment to the law will be made as a result of discussions and interactions between the Lankan authorities and Australian counterparts since 2009.

Asked when the amendments will be finalised and come into effect, the Controller General said they were hopeful of wrapping up official work by April 2013. The Act will incorporate comprehensive people smuggling provisions, extradition provisions, extra territorial jurisdiction, fraudulent travel identity document offences, aggravated forms of people smuggling offences and a tougher penalty regime for related offences.

MF