02-28-2007, 05:39 AM
Odd news. Thought it was strange enough to warrant posting:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/070227/2/12kjv.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Wednesday February 28, 09:52 AM
<b>Sri Lanka wants asylum seekers sent home</b>
Sri Lanka's health minister says a group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers detained on Christmas Island are not refugees and should be returned to their war-torn homeland.
Siripala de Silva said the 83 men, intercepted by the Australian navy in international waters last week, were not genuine refugees but had fled their country for economic reasons.
"These are immigrants of economic nature, they are not genuine asylum seekers," he told ABC Radio.
"Our request is they must be deported back to Sri Lanka."
Australia is considering sending the Sri Lankans to Indonesia if it can secure a guarantee from Jakarta that their asylum claims will be processed in Indonesia by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
But the Australian government says it will not send the men to Indonesia if they would then be returned to Sri Lanka, and may instead process them on Christmas Island or Nauru.
Mr de Silva admitted he knew little about the men, but believed they would have fled to India if they had been in fear of their lives in Sri Lanka.
"Why should they come to Australia? If they were in fear of their lives they should have run to India, which is 15 or 20km from Sri Lanka," he said.
(This is true.)
"How could they finance such a large venture? They have taken a short cut by trying to cheat Australian authorities."
Mr de Silva said the Sri Lankan government had "never persecuted anybody" and he could guarantee the men's safety if they were returned to Sri Lanka, where government forces are locked in a civil war with secessionist Tamil Tiger rebels.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Wow. Hold your horsies there, Silva. Let's not start lyin'. "Never persecuted anybody"?
You know what, I'm too tired to start responding to so blatant a falsehood.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/070227/2/12kjv.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Wednesday February 28, 09:52 AM
<b>Sri Lanka wants asylum seekers sent home</b>
Sri Lanka's health minister says a group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers detained on Christmas Island are not refugees and should be returned to their war-torn homeland.
Siripala de Silva said the 83 men, intercepted by the Australian navy in international waters last week, were not genuine refugees but had fled their country for economic reasons.
"These are immigrants of economic nature, they are not genuine asylum seekers," he told ABC Radio.
"Our request is they must be deported back to Sri Lanka."
Australia is considering sending the Sri Lankans to Indonesia if it can secure a guarantee from Jakarta that their asylum claims will be processed in Indonesia by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
But the Australian government says it will not send the men to Indonesia if they would then be returned to Sri Lanka, and may instead process them on Christmas Island or Nauru.
Mr de Silva admitted he knew little about the men, but believed they would have fled to India if they had been in fear of their lives in Sri Lanka.
"Why should they come to Australia? If they were in fear of their lives they should have run to India, which is 15 or 20km from Sri Lanka," he said.
(This is true.)
"How could they finance such a large venture? They have taken a short cut by trying to cheat Australian authorities."
Mr de Silva said the Sri Lankan government had "never persecuted anybody" and he could guarantee the men's safety if they were returned to Sri Lanka, where government forces are locked in a civil war with secessionist Tamil Tiger rebels.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Wow. Hold your horsies there, Silva. Let's not start lyin'. "Never persecuted anybody"?
You know what, I'm too tired to start responding to so blatant a falsehood.