Witness’ accounts on Sri Lanka asylum seekers:

Nandani ‘Rape’ story wins her asylum in UK

Sri Lanka's Unfinished War a BBC Documentary presented by Frances Harrison fulfilled every criteria of an attention-grabbing piece of fiction. Unfortunately, the story that emerges is very much a piece of fiction as evidence will expose not only the story of Nandani but a dangerous racket taking place in the UK manipulating the innocent asylum seekers to live in Western nations.

Nandani’s mother

The version we present is no fiction but it will alarm and shock readers making them wonder if such actions can take place in the UK under the eyes of democracy, rule of law and equal justice.

It will establish a link that would require British authorities arrest the evil minds involved in the asylum racket making money out of a desire to want to live in a First World Nation.

We do not blame Nandani. There are thousands of females like Nandani who have fallen prey to the advice given simply because they either want to join their husbands or to just tell their family back home that they are earning dollars and pounds.

‘Sri Lanka's Unfinished War’, the BBC documentary released in November 2013 ahead of Sri Lanka's Commonwealth Summit. Frances Harrison believes the 12 cases presented established judgement against the Sri Lankan security forces of being involved in the torture and rape of Tamil civilians.

According to Frances Harrison, the viewers are left to conclude that:

·Systematic and widespread rape exists in Sri Lanka committed during and after the war by the Sri Lankan military

Nandani, whose concocted rape story won her political asylum in UK

· Nandani becomes the 1st post-conflict rape to be made public

· The security forces are guilty because medical reports corroborate their stories

Nandani's version and the truth:

We have spoken to Nandani's mother, who lives in Jaffna with Nandani's other sister who has not heard from her daughter nor has the daughter economically helped her mother. Nandani's mother was questioned about Nandani to show there is an organised racket taking place to make money from asylum seekers.

They are trained on what to say, they agree to be subjected to physical torture which a medical officer endorses as being recent and proof to claim them victims while alleging the perpetrator to be the Sri Lankan military.

The presenter of the BBC documentary would not have expected Nandani's mother to be traced and for Nandani's mother and sister to deny all that Nandani had confidently revealed.

The most important thing that emerges is the inconsistencies: Nandani says she was picked up from her home in early 2013 in the BBC documentary - her mother says that Nandani left for the UK in 2012 which next leads to the question how did she get picked up from her home and raped by 5-6 security personnel?

Nandani's home is in Nallur, Jaffna, Northern Province. However, Nandani had not been living with her mother in Nallur. She had been in a lodging in Colombo from 2006 to 2012. Her mother was not living with her in Colombo but was living in Jaffna with Nandani's sister.

· Nandani says she was picked up from her ‘home’ and repeatedly raped by men in uniform.

· Nandani says her mother tried to stop the men from taking her but her mother was pushed to the ground

· Nandani says she can't sleep because of what happened, she feels suicidal and she doesn't feel like living.

The truth

· Nandani's real name is Muturasa Nandani / Nalaini. She is also known as Lucky
· Nandani is 35 years old born 25 February 1979
· Nandani's home is 90/1,Asirwaddapa Street, Nallur East, Jaffna

Nandani’s wedding in India

· Nandani does not mention she is married in the documentary. She was married to a pro LTTE activist, Uhan Padmarasa.

· Uhan Padmarasa was sent by the LTTE to the UK in 1995 and has been living there since then.
· Uhan and Nandani got married in India in mid 2000 because he could not arrive in Sri Lanka knowing authorities would arrest him.

· Nandani had tried numerous times to gain a visa but had failed. The last option was the rape card and the syndicate was already in place to offer the option of claiming rape by Sri Lankan soldiers and appealing for asylum.

This process of course does not come cheap and the minimum cost is sterling pounds 5000-6000 plus various other charges citing different reasons and requirements.

· Nandani's mother confirms that since her daughter left for the UK in 2012 she had spoken to her only once. She would have had to illegally leave Sri Lanka because had she got a visa she would not have resorted to using the ‘rape’ story to gain asylum.

Legal assistance

Asylum seekers entering UK are offered legal counsel costing 5000-6000 sterling pounds as legal fees, in addition to sterling pounds 1500 processing fees to succeed in gaining asylum status in the UK.As per the asylum seekers some of the agents and solicitors they obtain the services to make asylum claims are Deva, Theepan, Jana, Ravi, Mathi, Anoja Naha and Company, Kananathan, Vasugi.

Physical scarring

The journey in obtaining asylum entails agreement of the following physical tortures:

· Being burnt with cigarette butts

· Being beaten with hot metal rods

· Being cut and scarred to show physical torture.

There are many places where asylum seekers with the advice of Solicitors get themselves scarred and burned. One such place that witnesses reported where the self inflicted wounds were carried out is located at 53, South End Lane, Bromley, SE6 3AB (With Red Van) belonging to Pirakash Gobalasingham who has close links to the TRO.

Medical claims

The next is to obtain medical corroboration. Whether British medical doctors are involved in the scam or not, (given that the asylum seekers have actually been subject to virtual physical torture (in the UK) ), these doctors naturally endorse the RECENT torture and that is sufficient to argue the case against the Sri Lankan armed forces alleging that post-conflict torture is systematic, widespread and continues giving credence for UK to grant asylum and save Tamils from being oppressed.

Dr. Alison Callaway who has been examining over 200 cases of ALLEGED torture from Sri Lanka for the past 5 years shows that this practice of physical torture induced in the UK as part of securing asylum has prevailed for 5 years.

Dr. Alison's examination of Nandani as having over 30 cigarette butt burns on her body including her genitals shows that Nandani has agreed to allow herself to burn her body including her genital area.

It fits perfectly into the version that Frances Harrison wishes to project that ‘rape and torture’ is systematic, widespread and recent.

What a perfect way to inflict wounds in the UK to establish the argument and ‘corroborate’ through medical practitioners report and examination! This should shock the British public that such practices prevails in the UK and it is a systematic profit making practice within a chain of irregularities granting asylum.

The BBC also highlights the report of 62 alleged rape cases, even without verifying its authenticity even these cases cannot be categorized or called ‘systematic’ ‘widespread’ or called a ‘war crime’ not even a ‘pattern’ can be proved except used in a smear campaign.

Dr. Alison says that the over 200 cases cannot be faked. She is correct. There is nothing to fake.

Even the pain Nandani describes is very real. What needs to be made clear is that the pain was not caused in Sri Lanka or by the Army but in the UK. The scars are really inflicted but not without consent. That consent comes with the assurance of obtaining asylum.

Just as Dr. Alison is fooled so is Dr. Frank Arnold, who is an expert on torture. These examining show that physical tortures are regularly taking place in the UK under consent for sterling pounds 5000-6000 on the understanding that it would lead to UK granting asylum. When Dr. Frank Arnold says ‘it would be impossible for the wounds reported to be self-inflicted’, we certainly agree. No one can inflict such wounds on his/her own body. But what if they agree to get themselves wounded in order to secure asylum? Tamils arriving illegally or with student visas and who then use rape or physical torture (by showing actual physical torture inflicted with consent in the UK) as evidence. Dr. Arnold goes on to say that such wounds have to be inflicted either by being tied down or after being anaesthetized should make people start wondering where this torture takes place in the UK!

When Dr. Frank Arnold says ‘this is an organized activity’ the truth is that this organized activity is taking place in the UK.

When Dr. Arnold says ‘it is hard to believe ...that this could be done without conniving of state authorities’ - it should wake up the British authorities to see how many UK passport holders are involved in this racket. This should shake the British authorities into action if not investigation of all those involved in the racket.

We have been able to unearth the lies by Frances Harrison's key witness denied by her own mother with her sister as witness but it shows a far more dangerous ground reality which the UK authorities should address and launch an investigation upon.

UK authorities need to find out the locations where this torture is being inflicted on asylum seekers with their consent on the assurance they would get asylum after the training on what to say and how to say it, how much money is this venture generating, who is involved and exactly how global is the venture?

Courtesy: Eye Sri Lanka – www.defence.lk