Lee Rhiannon is a Greens MP in the NSW Upper House. She is running for the Senate in the upcoming Federal Election.
Taken from Hansard 13th of May 2010.
SRI LANKAN CONFLICT
Page: 50
Ms LEE RHIANNON [5.27 p.m.]: I make reference to the one-year anniversary marking the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, particularly with reference to the recent decision of the Federal Government to suspend the processing of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Given reports coming out of Sri Lanka of why Tamil people are continuing to flee their country and seek asylum, it seems essential for us to respond to the needs of the Tamil people and not turn our backs to their cries.
In May 2009 the Sri Lankan government claimed victory after 26 years of civil war. It has been reported that around 380,000 were subsequently incarcerated in internment camps with extremely poor sanitation and water facilities. Among the reported conditions to date there have been allegations of starvation, rape, prostitution, torture, disappearances and extra-judicial killings. The former UN representative in Colombo, Australian Gordon Weiss, has stated that up to 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed from January to May 2009. Despite repeated promises by the government of Sri Lanka to release all displaced persons from the camps by November 2009, on 11 March 2010 the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre released a report indicating 93,000 Tamil civilians remained in these camps. A Human Rights Watch report released in January 2010 states that the Government continues to hold more than 11,000 Tamils thought to be former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam [LTTE] combatants, including over 500 children, in so-called rehabilitation centres.
No independent screening or monitoring has taken place in any of these camps. There are also concerning reports from Sri Lanka that the members of the media, Opposition party members and aid workers continue to be harassed and sometimes killed. Earlier this month Reporters Without Borders put Sri Lanka and Defence Secretary, Gotabya Rajapakse, on its list of top 40 predators of press freedom. On top of individual persecution, there are escalating fears of ethnic colonisation amongst the predominantly Hindu Tamil population. During the civil war numerous sites in the north were flattened by bombs dropped by Government forces. It is reported that new Buddhist shrines and permanent garrisons are being constructed on these sites.
I have been told that many Tamils in Australia have family members and friends that were killed during the conflict in 2009 or who remain interned in detention camps. Almost every Tamil in Australia knows someone that has been subjected to beatings, set alight, murdered, or has disappeared. Their trauma and suffering at what has happened to their family and friends is still very fresh and painful for the Tamils in Australia. They are disheartened that the Australian Government, particularly compared to the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the European Union, has been relatively silent in condemning the Sri Lankan Government. In a statement on 17 March 2010, Stephen Smit urged the Government of Sri Lanka, which itself has been accused of war crimes, to conduct and investigate its own injustices. In contrast, Human Rights Watch and the European Union advocated for an independent organisation to conduct the investigation.
While the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and France marked their discontent with Sri Lanka by abstaining from an International Monetary Fund vote in July 2009, Australia, again going against the actions of the international community, voted in favour of the organisation’s decision to give $US2.6 billion to the country. Human Rights Watch criticised the decision that conditions to respect and improve the rights of the displaced Tamils were not imposed on Sri Lanka as part of the loan agreement. In November Britain abstained from voting during the second tranche on the basis that human rights norms needed to be addressed. Nearly a month before the Australian Government announced that it would be halting the processing of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, the United States of America’s State Department released a damning report detailing the numerous human rights violations during and after the war. It stated unequivocally that Tamils in Sri Lanka are still victims to extra-judicial killings and disappearances and subject to systematic discrimination. Most recently, 20 Australian trade unions and affiliated organisation leaders wrote to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and all members of Parliament expressing “concern at the growing stance of indifference towards and demonstration of asylum seekers from both sides of Australian politics”. The letter stated:
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- we want to avoid a repeat of the politics of fear that overcame Australia in the period of 2001 to 2004—a period that brought shame upon Australia internationally, and divided the nation.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade travel advisory has acknowledged these threats, urging Australian citizens to reconsider travel to Sri Lanka and Afghanistan due to the dangerous security situation. This is in contrast to the Federal Government’s claim that both countries are safe for persecuted Tamil and Afghan refugees to return to. Given the continued reports emerging from Sri Lanka, it is strange that the Federal Government has suspended processing asylum seekers from this country. I would hope that the Government had solid reasonings behind its decision, but none have been forthcoming. In the face of fearmongering and dog whistling by Labor and the Coalition, the Greens have and will continue to campaign strongly to support the rights of refugees and asylum seekers. [Time expired.]
Last modified 14/05/2010 10:48:43 :
Australian Tamils For Greens 