Have LTTE human smugglers shifted operations to southern India?

by Manjula Fernando

Ten days ago LTTE human smugglers succeeded in shipping nearly 200 would-be asylum seekers as close as Christmas Island in Australia after a lapse of six whole months.

The presence of the boat near Australia was first tipped off by a man in the boat itself who sent an SOS to an Australian media organisation appealing for help saying that the boat reportedly with 32 women and 37 children was sinking.

His story of their plight did not tally with the fact that he had the wisdom and wealth to carry a satellite phone in his possession that came in handy when the boat supposedly began to sink.

The Australian, Sri Lankan and Indian media had been bombarded with the news of the two boats, one carrying 153 illegal immigrants and another over 50, despite attempts by the Australian officials to keep it low key and screen the asylum seekers and return those who have no legitimate claim. The Australian Governments, the present Prime Minister Tony Abbott as well as former Julia Gillard and the earlier Kevin Rudd had long discovered that almost all the asylum seekers were just economic migrants looking for greener pastures and not fleeing Sri Lanka because of persecution.

The Australian media naïve to the LTTE's well -organised propaganda network, day and night reported the incident castigating the Australian government for their decision to pack the boat people back to Sri Lanka. ABC news quoting Tamil Refugee Council Spokesman Aran Mylvaganam said the bigger boat had at least 11 people who were tortured by Sri Lankan intelligence sleuths.

They were sourcing the facts to relatives of the people in the boat but there were no independent verification of the claim. A senior Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry official said planting such claims in the media too is a well exploited tactic by the LTTE network.

He said shortly after the end of the war LTTE which wanted to protect their spirit of cadres still hiding in Sri Lanka began a human smuggling network.

At first they found Canada as a safe and a lucrative destination. The plan was to ship a boat load of human cargo to Canada and sneak in among them a few of their cadres who need protection.

When the Canadian border control smelled of this racket after falling for two such shiploads of illegal arrivals - San Sea and Ocean Lady - they quickly shut off the loopholes in their immigration laws. This countered the boat arrivals effectively and it proved to be a grand success.

They had the insight, if the people were fleeing persecution in Sri Lanka, they had better reach closer destinations than risk their lives in rickety vessels to reach shores of Canada. With this closing the doors for LTTE smugglers, there came a desperate need to find a second destination.

The official said, "Australia, with their friendly laws for maritime migration, the land proved to be more than a ready destination for their unscrupulous business. The LTTE support base in Australia was a crucial factor too. There needs to be legal as well as financial backing to fight their asylum pleas. "

The Australian too at first fell for the LTTE lie that people reaching their shores in rickety boats, risked their lives to flee Sri Lanka because they were being arrested and tortured.

When investigations revealed a different picture, the Australian authorities took action to introduce deterrent laws. Following an in -depth study of the ground situation in Sri Lanka, the Australian government in collaboration with its Lankan counterpart launched a multi- pronged campaign to deter people from taking off Sri Lankan shores to Down Under.

Australia appreciated the support extended by the Sri Lankan Navy in apprehending the would-be-asylum boats acknowledging it by donating two hi-tech patrol crafts that will be commissioned at Colombo Port next week by the Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison.

In addition an intense ad-campaign was launched in Sri Lanka to educate people of the risks and the changed laws that block asylum seekers from finding home in Australian soil even if a perilous journey takes them near Australia.

The Australian Border Control officials say boat arrivals remained zero since December 2013 until the latest boatload in late June.

A high ranking officer of the Sri Lankan Navy said, with the heightened intensity of border protection in Sri Lanka, the LTTE network seem to be making an attempt at resuming their human smuggling operations from southern India. The Indian and Australian media reported that the latest boat carrying the 153 illegal immigrants have left Pondicherry in mid June.

The officer said they were investigating an allegedly well organised racket of Lankans being shipped to Australia from southern India. The 'prospectives' were first air lifted to Trichy or Chennai as tourists and then being housed in refugee camps until the sea voyage is finalised.

The Hindu reported recently two incidents where Indian Police arresting Lankan Tamils who arrived in Danushkodi in boats in mid June and again on July 2. An LTTE accountant was among the second batch of Lankans arrested last week. It was not clear if this could also be linked to human smuggling operations to Australia.

"We have information that there are men who get them forged entry passes to the refugee camps for their stop over." "The people have to pay somewhere close to Sri Lankan Rs.1.5 million for the risky boat journey. Some will pay Rs.500,000 first and the rest when they land in Australia. It depends on the individual," he said.

Mostly the relatives of these people, some already living in Australia meet the travel expenses for these illegal immigrants.

Some have written their land or a vehicle to meet the expenses for the trip and the people have been mislead by the racketeers. "If they are repatriated from Australia, they lose their money, there is no pay back guarantee. "

The latest trend is that the fishermen in southern India selling their shabby boats to the racketeers for a handsome amount.

The Indian boats are bigger and they have a steel hull that have a better chance of withstanding the rough weather in the Indian Ocean.

Since the people are aware of the tough laws in Australia, smugglers are now selling the story that they will be found asylum in New Zealand. The latest boat discovered near Australia was allegedly travelling to New Zealand.

Within one week of the discovery of the boat, criticism levelled against the Australian government, suspected of trying to repatriate the boat people, was unprecedented.

The Green party of Australia allegedly sympathising with the LTTE accused the Government of breaching the UN refugee Convention and the UN Refugee Body too decried reports of possible deportation.