• Burmese
Saturday, July 12, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
25 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Asia

Australia Denies ‘Offensive’ Accusations Sri Lanka Asylum Seekers Ill-Treated

Reuters by Reuters
July 10, 2014
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Australia Denies ‘Offensive’ Accusations Sri Lanka Asylum Seekers Ill-Treated

Australia’s Minister of Immigration and Border Protection Scott Morrison. (Photo: Reuters)

3.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

COLOMBO — Australia on Wednesday rejected accusations of mistreatment by Sri Lankan asylum seekers returned to the island nation, saying the move sent a strong message to those thinking of following in their footsteps.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison was speaking in Colombo a day after some of the 37 Sinhalese and four Tamils said they were ill treated by Australian Customs officials at sea.

“I find those allegations offensive and reject them absolutely,” Morrison told reporters.

RelatedPosts

Bangladeshi Islamist Party Proposes Independent Rohingya State in Myanmar’s Rakhine

Bangladeshi Islamist Party Proposes Independent Rohingya State in Myanmar’s Rakhine

April 28, 2025
2.5k
Myanmar Refugees in Limbo, Thailand in Denial

Myanmar Refugees in Limbo, Thailand in Denial

March 22, 2025
2.7k
Bangladesh Arrests Notorious Rohingya Militant Leader

Bangladesh Arrests Notorious Rohingya Militant Leader

March 19, 2025
1.2k

“Any venture … that thinks they can get to Australia, well, I think a very clear message is being said, particularly in the last few days: that venture will not prevail.”

Sri Lanka says many asylum seekers are economic migrants, but rights groups say Tamils seek asylum to prevent torture, rape and other violence at the hands of the military.

One of the asylum seekers, N.A. Nilantha, said Australian Customs officials acted “in an inhumane manner” before the transfer to the Sri Lankan navy.

“They knelt us down, they dragged us, holding our necks,” he told Reuters soon after he was released on bail in the southern port of Galle.

“They gave meat for a dog on board while we were given only a slice of bread. When we complained of being sick and having headaches, they said we were pretending. They did not treat us for any of our illnesses.”

Another accused customs officials of barring the asylum speakers from speaking to each other.

“In this ship, we were not allowed to talk,” said the father of three who travelled with his family and who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“…They gave us expired chocolates. When we asked for a basin for a baby less than two months old, they did not give us one. But they gave a basin to the dog. They bathed the dog with shampoo. They gave the dog a towel and two bed sheets, but we were not given anything.”

Most of the group returned to Sri Lanka were members of the majority Sinhalese community and not minority Tamils, who have alleged persecution by Sri Lankan authorities since Tamil separatists were defeated in the country’s civil in 2009.

Group members told Reuters they had been trying to reach New Zealand, not Australia, to seek jobs for a “better life”. One man said he had “no problem” with the Sri Lankan government.

Less clear are the origin and motives of a second boat of Sri Lankan asylum seekers, stuck in legal limbo as Australia’s High Court considers the legality of their interception.

Australia’s Tamil Refugee Council said of the 153 people on board the second boat, some 48 are from India’s 60,000-strong, unregistered Sri Lankan Tamil refugee community. At least 11 of those had been tortured in Sri Lanka, the council said.

About 60 million people live in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu, dominated by ethnic Tamils.

The Organisation for Eelam Refugees’ Rehabilitation, based in the Tamil Nadu capital Chennai, said more than a quarter of those on board the second ship had been traced to refugee camps in the Indian state.

Some of the 42 people who boarded the boat from these camps were born in India, while others had lived in India for decades, the advocacy group’s founder, S.C. Chandrahasan, told Reuters.

Jaffna Visit

Morrison quietly visited the city of Jaffna in the ethnic Tamil-dominated north of Sri Lanka during his whirlwind visit, where he met the governor of the Northern Province, G.A. Chandrasiri, a presidential appointee.

Morrison did not meet chief minister, C.V. Vigneswaran, the leader of the Tamil National Alliance, the party that finished first in last year’s regional election and controls a regional assembly, or any Tamil civil society groups.

The 41 asylum seekers picked up from the first boat were handed over by Australia to Sri Lanka in a secret operation over the weekend. Morrison rejected claims that Australia had breached international conventions.

“The Australian government takes very seriously our responsibility, as well as the Sri Lankan government people’s safety and the various obligations that they have under the various conventions to which we are signatories,” he said.

Morrison was in Colombo to hand over two patrol boats to Sri Lanka to strengthen surveillance against people smuggling.

Back in Australia, Prime Minister Tony Abbott vowed not to bow to “moral blackmail” following reports of suicide bids by female asylum seekers at a detention centre on Christmas Island.

Opposition Greens lawmaker Sarah Hanson-Young, whose party is one of the strongest critics of the government’s “Operation Sovereign Borders” immigration policy, said she had spoken to people inside the centre who reported that almost 10 mothers were on suicide watch this week.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Refugees
Reuters

Reuters

...

Similar Picks:

Myanmar Youth Exodus Feared in Wake of Junta’s Conscription Law
Burma

Myanmar Youth Exodus Feared in Wake of Junta’s Conscription Law

by The Irrawaddy
February 15, 2024
15.7k

Activists warn of increased labor rights violations in Thailand and human trafficking as young people flee to avoid mandatory military...

Read moreDetails
By Almost Every Measure, Myanmar Junta Ranks Among World’s Worst Regimes
Analysis

By Almost Every Measure, Myanmar Junta Ranks Among World’s Worst Regimes

by Khin Nadi
February 2, 2024
10.8k

The Irrawaddy unpacks the regime’s three-year track record of violence and rights abuses, as assessed by leading global organizations and...

Read moreDetails
Karen Ethnic Army Launches Final Push to Capture Myawaddy on Thai Border
Burma

Karen Ethnic Army Launches Final Push to Capture Myawaddy on Thai Border

by The Irrawaddy
April 9, 2024
10.3k

The KNLA and PDF groups launched an attack on the last junta battalion defending Myawaddy on Tuesday afternoon and were...

Read moreDetails
Illegal Entry Arrests Surge in Thailand Amid Forced Military Conscription in Myanmar
Myanmar’s Crisis & the World

Illegal Entry Arrests Surge in Thailand Amid Forced Military Conscription in Myanmar

by Brian Wei
May 30, 2024
9.5k

More than half of the soaring number of people being detained at the border said they were fleeing conscription, a...

Read moreDetails
Clashes Resume on Thai-Myanmar Border
Burma

Clashes Resume on Thai-Myanmar Border

by AFP
April 20, 2024
7k

Myanmar junta troops near the Second Friendship Bridge to Thailand are holding out against anti-regime forces.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Causes Thailand Problems
Guest Column

Myanmar Junta Causes Thailand Problems

by Paul Greening
March 7, 2024
6.8k

The multiple crises on Thailand’s border sparked by the Myanmar junta’s failed coup could present opportunities for Bangkok, but so...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
US Lawmakers Criticize Vietnam

US Lawmakers Criticize Vietnam, Cambodia and Burma

Dutch Crash Out of World Cup

Dutch Crash Out of World Cup, Argentina Face Germany in Final

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

3 days ago
1.1k
Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

3 days ago
1k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

    Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Chief Thanks Trump for Shutting Down VOA and RFA

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • KIA Denies Rumor Chief Under House Arrest in China

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Not a Witch Hunt’: Upholding Survivor-Centered Justice in Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.