External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris has been engaging with a variety of foreign dignitaries, media organizations and audiences overseas these days. Given the negative attitude that prevails in many parts of the western world with regard to the post-war situation in Sri Lanka, and the dismal performances of some of the country’s diplomatic personnel in the past, he has not done too badly. In New York he held his ground, in Delhi he allayed fears and in London he rubbished the propaganda. The minister seemed well prepared for each of these encounters. If he achieved some measure of success in redeeming the country’s image abroad, it was in the face of a predictable onslaught, aided and abetted by the pro-LTTE lobby that persists in engaging in anti-Sri Lanka activity in western capitals.
 |
The anxieties that have surfaced in India are of particular concern as they relate to an uneasiness in Sri Lanka’s biggest neighbour (in fact our only neighbour) with regard to the rapidly changing geopolitics of the Indian Ocean region, and Sri Lanka’s role therein. India’s gesture of inviting president Mahinda Rajapaksa to be chief guest at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games was itself interpreted in some quarters as a ‘charm offensive’ designed to counter Sri Lanka’s growing relationship with China. The underlying uneasiness was barely concealed by the interviewer on India’s NDTV news who directly asked Peiris whether, in his meetings, Delhi had expressed concerns regarding Sri Lanka’s relations with China, how many projects were being handled by China, etc. Peiris was quick to reassure her that Sri Lanka has friendly relations with many countries, and would never allow its territory to be used against any country with which it had friendly relations. The Times of India reported that he said “Colombo will continue to have a special relationship with India while advancing its economic cooperation with China.”
These sound like the right things to say, considering that Sri Lanka cannot afford to lose the goodwill of either India or China. Nurturing such a relationship entails a delicate balancing act, and so far the minister seems to have succeeded in walking the tightrope.
Peiris also told the Times that concerns over Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists being trained in Sri Lanka were unfounded. "The matter was brought to our notice. It was examined by our defence authorities but we have not found anything to establish it," he was quoted as saying. India’s concerns arose from the fact that the accused in the Pune bakery bomb blast earlier had said LeT operatives were being trained here.
The other issue with an international dimension on which the Minister has sought to put the record straight in recent times, relates to the boatloads of Tamils arriving in western ports and seeking refugee status in those countries – mainly Canada and Australia. Minister Peiris has categorically rejected the idea that these are refugees, and described them as economic migrants. “There is no legitimate basis for an application of refugee status at all,” he told the Toronto Star at an interview in his Colombo office earlier this month. “They want to see greener pastures. That is fine. But to ascribe that to atrocities that are alleged to be taking place in this country, or to hide behind a smokescreen of imagined delinquencies or wrongdoings is, to say the least, disingenuous and it also does harm to the country.”
In July this year a boat called MV Sun Sea arrived in British Columbia with nearly 500 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers on board. This week another boat was reported to be on its way, amidst reports of changes being made to Canadian immigration law making it more difficult for such arrivals to claim refugee status. The Canadian High Commission in Colombo now corroborates what Sri Lanka has been saying for a long time. The High Commission studied some case files of Sri Lankan Tamils who have been granted asylum in Canada since the end of the war, and found that in more than half of the cases these “refugees” had returned to Sri Lanka after receiving Canadian citizenship and passports, the Star reported. Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has admitted to “widespread abuse’ of the asylum system.”
Australian authorities meanwhile have enlisted the support of the Sri Lankan navy and police to tackle the human smuggling operation from this end. Thanks to Sri Lanka’s cooperation the effort has been successful, with reports indicating no boatpeople heading for Australia have left Sri Lanka for over a year.
As we all know the abuse of the Canadian and Australian asylum systems by Sri Lankan migrants is nothing new, and has been going on for decades. How is it that the western authorities seem to have suddenly “discovered” the phenomenon only now? The numbers may have increased, but the tougher stance being adopted seems to have less to do with any change in the nature of the problem, than a change in the attitude of the Canadian and Australian authorities.
Canada which is home to a 200,000-strong Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, banned the LTTE but turned a blind eye to the fundraising carried out by various LTTE front organizations, although these funds helped to arm terrorists who wrought carnage in our part of the planet. When these horrific incidents took place western governments in unison issued mealy-mouthed moral statements exhorting “both sides” to desist from violence.
How is it that Colombo-based western diplomatic missions - that have suddenly discovered the deceitfulness of bogus asylum claims - were unable at that time to see through the deceitfulness of LTTE propaganda that spoke of ‘genocide’ etc., and to advise their foreign offices accordingly? How come they could not see who committed the suicide bombings, assassinations etc.? It would seem that as long as the incidents were taking place elsewhere, the western political establishments were content to pamper the diaspora communities along with LTTE operatives, bogus asylum seekers and all, and solicit their votes. The flagrant abuse of the immigration system in recent times, in the glare of the media spotlight, is now becoming an embarrassment to them and threatens to alienate other constituencies domestically. Some may see the turnaround of western attitudes towards asylum seekers as mere pragmatism. To others it is further evidence of the rank hypocrisy inherent in western foreign policy.
The writer is a senior freelance journalist. |
E-mail