Tamil Sydney

78 asylum seekers sent to a detention centre where inmates alleage authorities of beat them at night

ABC today reported, "An Australian customs official has inspected a port on the Indonesian island of Bintan where Oceanic Viking - carrying 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers - is expected to dock tomorrow morning.The asylum seekers were picked up last week after a distress signal was sent to Australian authorities. " " Afghans already detained at the centre have accused Indonesian immigration authorities of beating them at night - a claim that has been denied by the local immigration chief. It is also possible the asylum seekers may be transferred to a smaller vessel before being brought to shore."

Greens Leader Bob Brown has urged the federal government to consider sanctions against Sri Lanka amid concerns about the treatment of the nation's Tamil population. More than 250,000 people remain in camps in Sri Lanka after being displaced as a result of a long-standing civil war, which came to an end earlier this year. Australia should be helping to stem the flow of asylum seekers by ramping up pressure on Sri Lankan authorities, Senator Brown said.

A renowned Sri Lankan Tamil scholar chosen to head the main research session in the Tamil Nadu government's World Classical Tamil Conference due to be held in June 2010, on Saturday expressed reservations about participating in the meet, as he feels the Tamils in the island nation are not satisfied with chief minister M Karunanidhi's response to the plight of their community.
Read more...

Asylum Seekers’ Plight Demands Action on Human Rights of Tamil Detainees

CATHOLIC JUSTICE AND PEACE COMMISSION OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BRISBANE
Media Release, Monday 19 October 2009
Asylum Seekers’ Plight Demands Action on Human Rights of Tamil Detainees
In the wake of the current controversy over the treatment of Sri Lankan asylum seekers, Brisbane’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission has called on the Prime Minister to take action to end the detention of Tamil civilians in camps run by the military in Sri Lanka. The Commission’s Executive officer, Peter Arndt, said that the silence and inaction of the Prime Minister on the plight of Tamils in camps in the north and east of Sri Lanka was unacceptable.

An inquiry similar to one that looked into fighting in Gaza may be needed to determine if war crimes were committed in Sri Lanka in the final throes of its 26-year war this spring, a U.N. office said on Friday. There hasn't been a full inquiry into what did or did not happen in the last months of the war, Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner of Human Rights, said. "We still believe that something like the Gaza fact-finding mission is certainly warranted given the widespread concerns about the conduct of the war in Sri Lanka," said Rupert Colville.

The Australian Government is working closely with Indonesian authorities to safely facilitate the transfer of 78 passengers on board the Australian Customs Vessel Oceanic Viking to the port of Tanjung Pinang in Indonesia. Working with Indonesia, Australia has been discharging its humanitarian and safety-at-sea
obligations. We have been advised that the adult male passengers on board the ACV Oceanic Viking have
commenced a hunger strike and are refusing to eat meals. However, they are drinking water. The women and children on board are continuing to eat and drink and are not involved in the hunger strike.

The Eighth Tamil Internet Conference TIC 2009 and the first in Europe was inaugurated with the august presence of Prof.Dr.Bongartz (Dean of Philosophical Faculty of Univ. of COLOGNE) & Prof.M.Anandakrishnan (Chair, Tamilnadu Govt. Delegation & Former VC, Anna University). The 3 day conference hosted by the Institute of Indology and Tamil Studies of the University of Cologne in Germany is being held from October 23-25, 2009. Tamil Internet Conferences of INFITT are major events for computer professionals and Tamil Diaspora working or interested in Tamil Computing- Information Technology and Tamil Internet Development in various areas. This year’s conference is being attended by over 100+ attendees from major Tamil speaking countries including India, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, UK, Germany, France, USA & Canada.

Originally Published in Mar 2004
I was shocked, saddened and angered when I read the news item on 17 March 2004 in Sri Lanka Media, that a memorial is to be erected in Colombo for the Indian Peace Keeping Force - IPKF soldiers who died in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 2000. The simple fact of the matter is that a foreign country, with designs of becoming a regional superpower, maneuvered to send its Army here as Peace Keepers but massacred thousands of innocent Tamil civilians, raped the women and plundered valuables.If memorials are to be erected, then it should be for innocent civilians massacred by the IPKF. Let me provide a FEW samples from my personal knowledge. These represent but the tip of an iceberg. I write as an authentic son of Jaffna, born and bred there, educated at Jaffna Hindu College and the only house my wife and I own is in Jaffna.

Community sources said that an australian tamil who witnessed the last phases of the brutal war waged by Sri Lankan government in may this year, described by UN as 'blood bath on the beaches' has arrived home safetly from Sri Lankan concentration camp.Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told to media on 17th June that, "Our officials believed, at one point late in May or early this month, that they had been located in the camps, but we cannot confirm their continued presence in one of the camps. Having said that, I underline this point, we have no information or evidence from any of our sources - the international agencies, our own officers, or the Sri Lankan authorities - which would cause us to believe they are unsafe or have come into harm. "

They make up less than four per cent of people who come to Australia seeking asylum, yet never fail to generate an astonishing political and media storm.So here are some facts: more than 96 per cent of asylum seekers arriving in Australia step off planes, not boats. Furthermore, the vast majority of boat arrivals are typically found to be genuine refugees – those fleeing for their lives and safety, not simply seeking better lives in wealthier nations. Far from being "illegal immigrants" they are exercising the right to seek asylum under international law.
Yet right now our Government is actually considering paying Indonesia, a country which has not signed the UN Convention on Refugees, to swoop in on people desperately seeking refuge in Australia before we’ve even had a chance to hear their claims.

HRW Press Release
A US State Department report on possible violations of the laws of war in Sri Lanka made public on October 22, 2009 shows the need for an independent international investigation, Human Rights Watch said today. The report details violations of the laws of war committed by both government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from January through May 2009.

More...

<< Start < Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>

[ Back ]