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Australia, Lanka to stem human smuggling
Publish Date: Monday,9 November, 2009, at 11:00 PM Doha Time
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith, left, shakes
hands with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse in Colombo yesterday
Australia and Sri Lanka yesterday entered into a co-operation agreement
to stem the smuggling of Sri Lankans into Australia.
The agreement was reached by the visiting Australian Foreign Minister
Stephen Smith and his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollagama in Colombo,
where they discussed the increasing number of undocumented immigrants trying to
reach Australia.
"Our aim is to prevent criminal syndicates smuggling people," Smith told
a joint news conference yesterday evening before ending his one-day visit.
The two countries agreed on sharing information, prosecuting persons
involved in human smuggling and taking action to prevent human smuggling,
Bogollagama said.
Smith said also called for regional co-operation including the support of
Indonesia, where at least 255 Sri Lankan migrants have been detained.
The visiting minister, who is accompanied by Australia's newly appointed
special representative to Sri Lanka, John McCarthy, was due to meet President
Mahinda Rajapakse as well. The visit comes amid a stand-off by 78 Sri Lankans
who are refusing to get off an Australian Customs ship due to fears that they
may be sent back to Indonesia.
Evidence has emerged that some of migrants left the former war- torn
eastern coast where Tamil rebels and Sri Lankan security forces had until May
fought a civil war. The undocumented migrants say they do not want to return
home, fearing that minority Tamils would be harassed despite the end of the
civil war. DPA
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