The Sri Lankan Navy has suggested some asylum seeker boats will not be intercepted due to the operation of people smugglers as Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil met with leaders of the nation to address the issue.
Hundreds to thousands of Sri Lankans are desperately trying to flee amid soaring prices of every day items due to shortages of fuel, petrol and medicine as its overseas currency reserved dived and it was unable to pay for imports of goods.
Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Captain Indika De Silva admitted it would be difficult to stop every single vessel leaving the country due to the vast 1,340 kilometre coastline it has to monitor.“It’s not because we don’t have the resources. It’s the way they operate – the smugglers – it is their primary task to evade the navy mechanisms.”
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil touched down in Colombo on Monday where she met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister G.L Peiris to discuss how Australia could help their country. She also stressed the commitment from Australia to fight transnational crime and to tackle people and drug smuggling.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the funding would go towards helping 3 million Sri Lankans to meet their daily nutrition every day and support health services.“Not only do we want to help the people of Sri Lanka in its time of need, there are also deeper consequences for the region if this crisis continues.”
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