Solutions for boat people

Friday, 17 May 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Over 1,000 Sri Lankans who attempted to illegally migrate to Australia have been returned home, showing the effect of decisive actions. The once almost-daily reports of boats being seized off the coast have dried up, but 42 were caught on Thursday, showing that the need to effectively deal with economically-challenged people remains.

The arrests came as the Australian senate adopted a controversial amendment to the ‘Migration Act,’ allowing people who arrive by boat to be processed at offshore facilities on Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island. The move is aimed at discouraging asylum-seekers showing up on Australia’s shore illegally through sea route.

Mainland Australia will now be out of the migration zone and all asylum-seekers who arrive anywhere in Australia will be eligible to be sent offshore, according to Australian Associated Press report. The amendment was passed with the support of the ruling coalition. The amendment was introduced by the former John Howard-led Government tried in 2006, and has been criticised by the Greens party, which called it “a stain on national character”.

Under the ‘Migration Amendment (Unauthorised Maritime Arrivals and Other Measures) Bill 2012’, mainland Australia will join Ashmore Island, Cartier Islands, Christmas Island, and Cocos Islands to be excluded from the migration zone. The amended bill will now go to the lower house for a final approval.

According to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, a total of 6036 passengers on 96 boats have arrived on Australia’s shore this year. A majority of them are from Sri Lanka. Canadian officials have also expressed concerns over illegal migrants, urging the Government to improve domestic conditions, including human rights, good governance, and economic opportunities to keep people home. It is therefore clear that the Government as well as all other stakeholders need to combine and find an effective and multifaceted method to help people not be fooled into skipping the country for wrongful reasons.

The fact that Sri Lanka needs to tighten its human smuggling and asylum seeker legislations is an obvious point. Unscrupulous people who dupe others into parting with their savings on false promises of a plentiful life need to be punished severely. Yet, at the same time, there must be economic opportunities made available to them so that their reasons for leaving are no longer valid.

Awareness of the danger could be one aspect that needs to be driven home, but the ordeal they will face if they reach their destination must be made known to them as well. Perhaps the most important point is that they must be provided with security and the assurance that law and order will protect them, thus allowing them to be productive citizens in their own country.

Given that public officials are also among the numbers detained, the time has come to accept that the asylum seekers issue has a deep economic facet that cannot be explained away by international conspiracies or human smugglers connected to the LTTE, a point that was acknowledged by officials from Australia and Canada, who pointed out that economic reasons were behind most migrations.

Giving economic returns to the majority of people is the biggest challenge and ultimately the best solution to this exodus.