| AFTA unaware of Tamil Tigers amongst asylum seekers |
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• Even by the grim standards of Sri Lanka’s human rights record, the last ten months have been the worst. In December 2008, the New York-based Genocide Prevention Project cited Sri Lanka as one of the eight "red alert" countries where genocide and other mass atrocities were underway or risk breaking out. In February 2009, the Boston Globe compared the ongoing massacre in Sri Lanka to the Bosnian Srebrenica genocide. On 18th July this year, the man who commanded the Sri Lankan forces during this onslaught, General Sarath Fonseka, openly admitted to killing unarmed people suspected of being combatants including those “carrying a white flag”. On 30th September this year U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, addressing the UN Security Council, noted that rape has been used as a weapon of war in Sri Lanka. • The United Nations, the US, British and the European Governments along with the US based Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called for an independent investigation into potential war crimes. • Having defeated the LTTE in May 2009, over 250,000 Tamil civilians were detained by the Sri Lankan Government in camps surrounded by barbed wire. Credible claims have emerged of acute shortage of food and water, women being separated from their families and rampant sexual abuse in these camps. The UN, human rights agencies and the independent media are denied access to verify or investigate these claims. Instead, carefully orchestrated inspections have been conducted to hide rather than reveal the appalling conditions under which the 250,000 Tamils are incarcerated. Consequently the atrocities remain unreported. • Tamils living outside the camps are not safe either. Many young men and women taken into custody by the Sri Lankan armed forces have simply ‘disappeared’ never to be seen or heard again. • It is to escape this dire situation that Tamils in desperation are fleeing the island. The recent arrival by boat of Tamil people is directly attributable to the plight that they are confronted with death, destruction and disappearance. • Claims have been made in the media and by some of the parliamentarians in Australia that those fleeing include former members of the LTTE. AFTA dismisses these claims as being entirely unfounded. • AFTA is unaware of the identities, history or the past activities of any of the asylum seekers. • AFTA categorically disassociates with the statement by its executive member about the presence of ex-LTTE cadres amongst those fleeing as this has no basis in fact. • AFTA deeply regrets and apologises unreservedly to the Australian public for this misleading statement made by this member. Dr Raga Ragavan, Chairperson – AFTA Contact: 0402 387 920 26 October 2009 |
This press release by the Australian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA) is in response to a report in ‘The Australian’ of 26th October 2009 by Paul Maley and Paige Taylor titled “Tamil Tigers join race for asylum”. The report was based on an interview with Dr Victor Rajakulendran, an Executive Member and Secretary of AFTA.| < Previous | Next > |
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