Sri Lankan fishermen say key Australian tool to combat people smuggling can be dodged

- Advertisement -

A crucial measure used by the Australian government to stop human trafficking in Sri Lanka can be readily avoided by offenders, and it is making fishermen who are already struggling due to the nation’s economic crisis pay a monthly charge.

Official sources have also disclosed to the ABC that they are looking into claims of people smuggling to Australia made against the brother of a Sri Lankan government MP.

According to experts, the revelations demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the solutions proposed by the Australian government to address the problem.

More than 1,000 Sri Lankans have attempted to reach Australia by boat this year, with many paying people traffickers thousands of dollars to travel on fishing trawlers for weeks across choppy waters.

The Australian Border Force intercepted more illicit boats in June 2022 than at any time since 2013. They were all Sri Lankan.

The economic crisis in Sri Lanka, which has cut off millions of people from essential services, is mostly to blame for the sharp surge.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil visited Colombo and donated supplies to local authorities to “fight people smuggling” after the ABC reported on the new influx of Sri Lankan asylum applicants in June.

The Sri Lankan government was provided with 4,200 GPS trackers by the Australian government to monitor fishing trawlers, which are the vessels utilized by people traffickers.

The trackers, known as vessel monitoring systems (VMS), can be taken off, according to fishermen who spoke to the ABC.
“This isn’t working. Most of the people when they are going to immigrate illegally, they will remove the fuse from the VMS system and they’re going,” said Nawaz Essa, fisherman and former head of the Boat Owners’ Association.

“Most of the people are immigrating illegally to Australia. They want to get that good life in Australia.

“The economic crisis is going up in Sri Lanka, each and every day the prices [are] going up … so most of the people they want to save their family and their children.”

An Australian Border Force spokesman said the government’s policy was “steadfast”.

Hot this week

Has India Quietly Achieved Maritime Deterrence Without Firing a Shot?

(Commonwealth_India) Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked this year’s Diwali...

Which Rare Deep-Sea Creatures Have Scientists Just Uncovered in Western Australia?

An Australian scientific expedition has revealed an impressive collection...

Bollywood’s best-kept secret is out: Baby Dua steals the show in Diwali festivities!

Mumbai (Commonwealth Union)_ Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, Bollywood's...

White House Diwali turns diplomatic: Trump hails Modi, signals major India moves at Diwali event!

India (Commonwealth Union)_ US President Donald Trump hosted Diwali...

Feast of Pope St. John Paul II

Karol Wojtyła was born in 1920 in Wadowice, Poland....
- Advertisement -

Related Articles

- Advertisement -sitaramatravels.comsitaramatravels.com

Popular Categories

Commonwealth Union
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.