இலங்கை அகதிகளை ஏற்க அவுஸ்திரேலியா மறுப்பு இந்தோனேசிய முகாமில் தடுத்து வைக்க முயற்சி

One thought on “இலங்கை அகதிகளை ஏற்க அவுஸ்திரேலியா மறுப்பு இந்தோனேசிய முகாமில் தடுத்து வைக்க முயற்சி”

1. Mr. José Manuel Barroso
   President of the European Commission
   1049 Brussels , Belgium

   Dear Mr. Barroso,

   We are deeply concerned about the fate of 78 refugees who are caught in limbo between the Australian and Indonesian governments, after fleeing persecution in Sri Lanka . As neither of these countries are prepared to accept this boat, which includes children and the elderly, we are concerned they will be sent back to Sri Lanka . Due to the continuation of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka , we are certain that the refugees will either be placed in jails, where torture is well-documented, or killed upon return.

   The internment of more than 250,000 civilians, including tens of thousands of children, in internment camps shows that persecution of Tamils in Sri Lanka is real and ongoing. The reality of the internally displaced people is overcrowding, disappearances, poor sanitation and severe restrictions on their freedom of movement. Despite calls from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to free the civilians, the Sri Lankan government continues to hold these Tamil civilians in essentially open-air prisons.

   Furthermore, a climate of widespread oppression is prevalent in the country. Reporters Without Borders ranked Sri Lanka 162 out of 175 countries in the world for press freedom in 2009. This year alone, a UNICEF worker was expelled from the country, the Red Cross was forced to scale down its operations and a journalist was imprisoned for 20 years. Additionally, the U.S. State Department has documented reports of shelling in No Fire Zones, abductions and murders of Tamil civilians and the reduction of food and medical supplies to areas populated by Tamils. This is the Sri Lanka that these refugees decided to flee from, one where persecution of Tamils is commonplace.

   In this climate, the safety of these refugees is very much in question if they are returned. Even if Indonesian officials let them into their country, the refugees are likely to be placed in what have been reported by Australian media as “third-world” jails where diseases, infections and poor sanitation prevail. That is why we urge the European Union to intervene and arrange for asylum to be provided to them in an European country. The international community has a responsibility to not doom those fleeing persecution to torture or death in Sri Lanka .

   Sincerely,

   President,
   Canadian Tamil Congress