*Lanka has advanced in a short period:
*Govt deserves credit for defeating terrorism:
Sri Lanka has done well in the past three years - Australia's
Foreign Minister
By Manjula Fernando
We are here to encourage Sri Lanka common interest in stopping the
people smuggling trade. Sri Lanka has done well in the past three years
- Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop who arrived in the country
to attend the Commonwealth Foreign Minister's meeting held a media
briefing at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel on Thursday for the Australian
media.

Julie Bishop |
The Sunday Observer, as the only Sri Lankan print media present
report below questions raised and answers given by Bishop as to why her
country defied calls to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting, about allegations that her country was soft on Sri Lanka and
the issue of illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka.
Thanking Sri Lanka for hosting this event she said, "The Commonwealth
is an extraordinary organisation where the members are committed to a
set of values based on democracy, diversity and tolerance, collaboration
and human rights."
"We are all not perfect members but nevertheless we support each
other in ensuring that we commit to these values."
She met a number of foreign ministers including the British Foreign
Secretary William Hague to discuss matters on trade, investment and
opportunities for economic growth during her stay in Colombo from
Wednesday to Friday. She also promoted Australia's chairmanship for G20
next year.
The Australian Foreign Minister said, "I met with Economic
Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa. The investment opportunities in
Sri Lanka are immense, there is potential for Australia to invest in Sri
Lanka. Given that Sri Lanka is emerging from a 30 year war on terrorism
there is need for infrastructure development where Australian investment
will be welcome.'' The two -way trade between Australia and Sri Lanka
currently stands at Aus $ 330 million.
Q: What were the topics you discussed when you met Sri Lankan
Ministers?
A: I had several meetings with Government ministers. This
morning (Thursday) I met with three TNA MPs at the High Commission. They
raised several matters and I in turn raised them with the Ministers. I
have been encouraging Sri Lanka to continue in the path to
reconciliation. They said the Government is committed and believe that
through economic growth and development reconciliation will occur more
quickly. We have to put it in the context that it was only four years
ago when a thirty year war on terrorism came to an end. And in that time
significant reconstruction work has taken place.
I travelled to Jaffna, Kilinochchi, and Trincomalee. I have seen the
level of investment in areas that had seen little investment for 30
years. That provide for job opportunities. A lot has been done and there
is a lot more to be done. I encourage the Lankan Government to continue
on the path to reconciliation. It will not be easy, it will take time.
Q: Reconciliation necessitates going back in time and
investigating what happened in the final stages of the war on terrorism
in 2009?
A: I believe the Sri Lankan Government's dealing with the end
of war on terrorism. It was a bloody conflict by all accounts.
The LTTE was one of the most notorious terrorist organisations. It
was a proscribed organisation and the Sri Lankan government was
determined to stamp it out. It deserves credit for having rid this
country of a dangerous terrorist outfit.
In that context reconciliation is going to take time. And that means
coming to terms with what happened during the war on terrorism, not just
the last two weeks.
Q: There are allegations that attending CHOGM is a public
relations exercise for Australia, to please the Sri Lankan government,
because of the issue of the Boat People. Would you like to comment on
that?
A: Attending the CHOGM is not a PR exercise on our part. We
are great supporters of the Commonwealth. We think it is an organisation
which should be treasured. We have supported it during the whole of its
existence. So I reject any suggestion that Australia attending the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting as being a PR exercise.
There are many countries represented here because we are committed to
the Commonwealth. The fact that Sri Lanka has chosen to host the meeting
is to their credit and it put themselves on the world stage. There have
been detractors, but they were prepared to face it by holding an
international event of this stature.
The cooperation we have with the Sri Lankan government on the issue
of people smuggling is the kind of cooperation that we want from all
countries that are involved in people smuggling.
Q: Why do you make representations about human rights when the
Australian Prime Minister praises the Sri Lankan Government?
A: We are not contradicting each other at all. I said the TNA
raised issues with me and I raised them with the Ministers. They raised
concerns about what was happening in the North. The point the Prime
Minister made was absolutely valid.
We are not here to lecture a country publicly to embarrass them. We
are here to encourage Sri Lanka and other countries to continue on the
path to reconciliation. Sri Lanka is not the only country which has gone
through challenging times and I think we should put it in the context
that it has been just four years since the cessation of hostilities.
Some of my counterparts had raised with me contrasting situations where
20-30 years later countries have advanced nowhere near what Sri Lanka
has advanced in the short period since the end of the war on terrorism.
Q: What relationship is there between the position that you
are taking and Australia's need for cooperation of the Sri Lanka
Government on the asylum issue. What do you say to the suggestion in
that question that your government is soft on the SL government because
you need their help with asylum seekers?
A: I rejected the suggestion that this was a public relations
exercise. I made it quite plain that we would attend the Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting wherever it's held if that country is a
member of the Commonwealth and Sri Lanka is an active member of the
Commonwealth.
Q: Specifically on the issue of asylum seekers is there any
relationship between your attitude to the SL government and your need
for cooperation with them?
A: We have a strong level of cooperation between the Sri
Lankan government and Australia over the issue of people smuggling and
Sri Lanka shares with us the concern that criminals should not profit
from human trafficking... that lives would be at risk. We have that
common interest in stopping the people smuggling trade.
We have the same desire as we do with Indonesia and Malaysia to stop
the people smuggling trade. In the case of Sri Lanka they are Sri Lankan
citizens, and so the Sri Lankan Government obviously wants them back,
they don't want their citizens putting their lives at risk.
Q: Are you aware of reports that a senior Sri Lankan naval
officer had been arrested for his part in people smuggling operations.
There are three other Sri Lankan sailors who have been arrested?
A: I am aware of that report I welcome the fact the Sri Lankan
government is taking the issue of people smuggling seriously and
cracking down on alleged corruption. The fact that they have been
arrested indicates that the Sri Lankan government is serious about
working in partnership with Australia to crack down on the people
smuggling trade.
Q: You discussed with Tamil representatives, there have been
concerns about the return of Sri Lankan asylum seekers?
A: No they are very keen to have Tamils in particular to
return from Australia to Sri Lanka. I had discussions with the TNA when
I visited in January.
I had a meeting with representatives of the TNA at that time as well.
They are keen to have the diaspora returned to Sri Lanka to help build
this country. It was the message I got in January and this was the same
message I got today.
Q: Did you raise any concerns about the detetion of Senator
Lee Rhiannon last weekend. She says she sent a letter earlier?
A: Lee Rhiannon requested that a third person note be sent to
the Sri Lankan Government, because she intended to travel on her
personal passport on a tourist visa and she sought advice we told her
that she would have to abide by conditions set out for a tourist visa.
But if she was to do anything other than tourist activity it could put
her in breach of the tourist visa.
There is always a risk when people travel on a personal passport on a
tourist visa that they will be questioned if they are in breach of the
tourist visa. I came here as a parliamentarian in January, I travelled
on my official parliamentary passport and an official visa. I had no
difficulty at all traveling around the country seeing what I wanted to
see and meeting who I wanted to meet.
Q: Do you think most of the people from Sri Lanka are economic
migrants, looking for better job opportunities in Australia?
A: That is the opinion of the Government. That seems to be the
opinion of the TNA representatives I met today as well. I haven't met
them to make my own assessment so I would go by the judgment of the Sri
Lankan government and others.
But it certainly seems clear that the war on terrorism is over here,
that the people who have returned have not been ill treated. The grounds
for applying for asylum as far as I am concerned does not apply.
Q: Amnesty International was saying that there was
unquestionable grounds for people to believe that they are being
persecuted, that the human rights situation is deteriorating in their
view. Is it your view that none of these people seeking to get to
Australia would qualify for refugee status?
A: That's my understanding.
Q: What are the steps the Australian government has taken to
ensure that people are not being mistreated when they are returned?
A: We have our mission here, we make inquiries. I have asked
questions from the TNA and the relevant Ministers. And on both
occasions, no issue about the treatment of people being returned has
been raised. |