The human-smuggling racket appears to have shifted its base from the east coast to the south, as the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) probes a fresh racket following the detection of 45 Sri Lankans, attempting to head to Australia in a boat from Beruwala.
A multi-day fishing trawler, carrying the illegal migrants is now docked at the Beruwala fisheries harbour following last week’s detection, while the CID is searching for the kingpins behind the racket.
The 40- foot long boat, “Maradha Madhu” was impounded and preliminary investigations have revealed that the boat usually operated in the coast of Negombo.
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| The impounded Maradha Madhu at the Beruwala harbour |
The 45 people who are now under the custody of the CID are residents of Batticaloa.
They reportedly had diaries on them, which had phone numbers of friends and relatives in Australia. They were also carrying Australian currency while some were in the possession of identity cards, birth and educational certificates. The boat was stocked with fuel, water and food for a 30-day journey.
When the Sunday Times visited the Beruwala harour where the CID raid took place, an eyewitness who spoke on grounds of anonymity said, the 45 asylum seekers were getting into the boat single file when the raid took place.
“It was late night and we first saw them loading cargo and other belongings. Then after that they started pumping fuel from the fuel station next to the dock. There weren’t many people at the harbour since it was close to Avurudu season and it was late at night. Suddenly, the police appeared from nowhere ordering them to freeze. All of them surrendered and they were boarded into a jeep,” he said.
The CID managed to make the breakthrough on a tip-off. On April 7, the Beruwala police received information that a boat from Negambo which usually travels to Batticaloa was using Beruwala as a transit point to smuggle contraband.
The Beruwala police then raided a meeting of the suspected smugglers at a spot near the harbour. They later uncovered that the boat operators were behind a large scale human trafficking racket. Six people were arrested and handed over to the CID.
The CID upon interrogating the suspects learnt that they were carrying out their trade in Batticaloa. CID sleuths had gone to Batticaloa to conduct investigations.
Each hopeful asylum seeker had reportedly paid Rs. 200,000 as advance followed by Rs. 800,000 on the eve of the boat journey.
Last month the Navy had arrested 15 people who were trying to seek asylum in Australia. Before that in November another 142 who were attempting to go to Australia were nabbed off the coast of Dondra Point.
Meanwhile on Friday Australia's government said it will immediately suspend processing of any new asylum seeker applications from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, in a move it hopes will send a message to people smugglers that they can't guarantee visas for those that arrive illegally.
“Those involved in the racket will now not be in position to guarantee a visa outcome for their clients. People aren’t being denied their right to seek asylum but it’s been suspended,” the Australian Immigration Minister said.
The move comes as the centre-left government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is under mounting pressure to address increasing numbers of refugees seeking to enter Australia by boat without appropriate travel documents.The suspension for Sri Lanka is for an initial period of three months.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who was earlier criticized for relaxing immigration policies, that reduced the time would-be refugees spent in detention before their applications were processed and dropping a requirement that they renew their visas every five years is now being criticized by human rights organizations.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Australian government's policy against Afghans and Sri Lankans is discriminatory and violates international law. The New York based human rights group also urged Australia to promptly settle claims of all refugees.
(Additional reporting by Sunil Thantriarachchi) |
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