As the crises continues in Sri Lanka, many migrants are trying to leave the country and seek refuge in another nation. Last week, Sri Lankans were caught in Indonesian waters as an attempt to go to Australia.
Displacement camps are dubbed as “concentration camps” by many Tamils because of the horrid conditions that more than 300,000 people face such as: improper hygiene, lack of food and water and non-access to proper medical treatment.
Protests have been occurring all over the world as tens of thousands of Tamils want the international community to take diplomatic actions against the Sri Lankan government to release the 300,000 men, women and children that are trapped in the barbed wire “death camps.”
Last week, more than 250 Sri Lankans tried to sail to Australia to seek refuge, however they were incepted by naval forces in Indonesian waters. As the wooden boat was stopped by the navy, military personnel saw a sign reading: "We are Sri Lankan civilians. Plz save our life."
The boat contained 195 men, 31 women and 27 children.
There were reports that the Sri Lankans threatened to set their boat on fire but
The Canadian Press confirmed in a phone interview that one of the migrants denied any reports, “Some screamed, 'We bomb' or 'Set boat on fire,' but that was just because they are so afraid when our ship was dragged to the port. In fact, we don't have any explosive within the boat."
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd verified on Tuesday that he did telephone Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to discuss the situation. The Tamils on the boat say they are facing ethnic persecution, “There are people that were actually tortured, there are people who had legs cut off, limbs cut off, people that were actually burned.”
Channel 4 released a video of two men being shot, execution style, as the camera panned left and right to show several other naked dead bodies.
In an e-mail interview with Senthan Nada, a Tamil demonstrator in Toronto, told
Digital Journal, “Can't Canada look into providing asylum to these poor souls? Canada is claiming they have speed up the process for sponsoring Tamil relatives from Sri Lanka.” Nada further added, “This is not practical since they are in concentration camps. Unless there is a High Commission in the camp it would be impossible for the papers to reach the relatives and bring them to Canada.”
Worldwide disapproval of the camps have been made aware by some top officials such as United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon who called the camps “appalling.”
Nada concluded, “They are locked up for more than 150 days in the camp and they can't go anywhere. The current process requires them to travel to Capital Colombo to receive the papers and do medical checkups or apply to come to Canada. Nobody is allowed to leave these camps and they are facing death every day.”
The 250 Sri Lankans do not want to be sent back home and each paid $15,000 for the trip to Australia but the engine broke down. They explained further that they escaped the violence in Sri Lanka on October 1 but, nevertheless, the migrants are still hoping that Australia will accept them, “We will hold on to the last string of hope, last string of faith, and trust that the Australian government can do what human nature and human rights require the government to do. We just want to go Australia, if they don't mind accepting us.”
Rudd has made a personal plea, according to
BBC News, to the Indonesian President to prevent any boatloads of Sri Lankan migrants from entering Australia. “I make no apology whatsoever for working as closely as I need with our Indonesian friends and partners to get the result we all need in terms of illegal immigration.”
