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Channel: Comments on: Troubled Waters: Corruption and Human Trafficking in Post-war Sri Lanka
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By: Groundviews

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A SENIOR Sri Lankan government official is suspected by Australian authorities of being personally “complicit” in the people-smuggling trade, directly undermining Canberra’s attempts to stop the surge in asylum-seeker boats.

The Australian can reveal that Australia’s intelligence agencies have identified the official, who has a high profile and is known to be close to President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The agencies believe he is responsible for authorising numerous boats in the past 10 months, fuelling the surge of asylum-seekers from Sri Lanka that has threatened to overwhelm Australia’s detention system.

The intelligence assessments about the figure, whom The Australian has chosen not to identify, are widely known at senior levels of the Gillard government.

It is understood options were canvassed as to how to handle the allegations before Foreign Minister Bob Carr’s visit to Sri Lanka in December. Senator Carr never raised the matter with the Sri Lankan government, and Canberra has been pleased with the sharp reduction in boats from the nation in recent weeks.

The allegations against the official drew a flat denial from the Sri Lankan government, with Colombo’s senior envoy to Australia, Bandula Jayasekara, describing them yesterday as “unbelievable, ridiculous, and mischievous”.

While official corruption is a common feature of the people-smuggling industry across the world, the involvement of such a senior member of the government would appear to be unprecedented. The assessment inside the Australian government is that the official is “complicit” in people-smuggling, posing a serious obstacle to Australia’s attempts to stop the flow of boats from Sri Lanka.

Australia’s intelligence agencies believe it would be impossible for so many asylum-seeker boats to leave the island’s shores without the individual’s direct involvement.

Via http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/blow-to-asylum-battle-as-intelligence-links-sri-lankan-official-to-smugglers/story-fn9hm1gu-1226566319961


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