Tamil Justice

ABC – Hopes rise for asylum seeker deal

Australia and Indonesia are believed to be close to finalising a deal which the Federal Government hopes will convince the 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers aboard the Oceanic Viking to leave the Customs ship and go ashore.

Three weeks after being rescued from their stricken boat, the asylum seekers are still refusing to go ashore and be processed in Indonesia. But AM has been told a three-pronged offer is being finalised.

It is understood asylum claims would be processed faster and resettlement fast-tracked.

Those found to be refugees could go to Australia, New Zealand or Canada.

Tamils already deemed refugees would be resettled first. More

Bloomberg – Sri Lankan Refugees May Get Australian Agreement, Herald Says

A group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers refusing to disembark from an Australian ship that took them to Indonesia may reach an agreement to resettle in Australia and end the standoff within days, the Sydney Morning Herald said.

The 78 Sri Lankans, already found to be legitimate refugees, may win a guarantee of swift resettlement in Australia, the newspaper said, citing refugee advocate Paris Aristotle.

An agreement may be reached before a Nov. 13 deadline set by Indonesia, it said, citing Aristotle.

ABC – Liberals stagnate as Rudd continues slide

Kevin Rudd’s popularity in the polls continues to slide amid the Oceanic Viking saga.

The latest Nielsen poll released today in Fairfax newspapers shows the Prime Minister’s disapproval rating rose five points to 28 per cent.

His approval rating dipped to 68 per cent from 71 per cent.

But Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has failed to make any inroads, as Labor still boasts a 12-point lead in two-party preferred results.

Labor has dropped 1 per cent to lead 56 to 44.

Mr Turnbull, who is battling to get consensus among his colleagues over the Coalition’s stance on climate change, has seen his approval rating climb two points to 37 per cent.

His disapproval rating was 53 per cent.

Mr Rudd remained well ahead as preferred prime minister, with 68 per cent (down three) to Mr Turnbull on 24 per cent (up one).

The Coalition’s primary vote was up only one point to 38 per cent, while Labor fell one point to 45 per cent. More

PERTH – 12.30pm, Mon 9 Nov

Office of Chris Evans (Immigration Minister), 51 Ord Street, West Perth

(This action has been organised by the newly reformed Refugee Rights Action Network. Next meeting: 6.30pm, Mon 9 Nov, Moon Cafe, cnr William & Newcastle Sts, Northbridge.)

Attached is a transcript of a press conference given by the Minister for Foreign Affairs Stephen Smith

091108 Transcript – Smith – Press Conference – Sri Lanka, People Smuggling.pdf

Reuters – Australia urges Sri Lanka reforms, reconciliation

Australia on Sunday urged Sri Lanka, having defeated the Tamil Tigers in May, to now embrace political reform and reconciliation to stem the flow of asylum seekers leaving the country.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith will meet his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollagama in Colombo on Monday amid a standoff in Indonesia involving 78 Tamil asylum seekers, who are refusing to leave an Australian vessel that rescued them last month. More

Western Australian Today – Greens challenge Smith on Tamil camps

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith should push the Sri Lankan government to allow aid agencies access to Tamil camps, the Australian Greens say.

Mr Smith is heading to Colombo for talks that aim to stem an exodus of Tamils from Sri Lanka.

The visit comes as a group of 78 Sri Lankans refuse to leave the Australian Customs vessel Oceanic Viking moored in Indonesian waters.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young is concerned international aid organisations are not able access Tamil camps.

“The first basic step we should be doing is working with the Sri Lankan government to say look guys, we’re going to have to let some organisations in here to help deal with this,” she told ABC Television on Monday. More

SMH – Send Oceanic Viking to Sri Lanka: Joyce

An Australian customs ship holding 78 asylum seekers off Indonesia should be sent to Sri Lanka, where its passengers are from, Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce says.

Australia has been trying for two weeks to persuade the group of ethnic Tamils to voluntarily disembark the Oceanic Viking and enter the Tanjung Pinang Detention Centre on the Indonesian island of Bintan.

But the group has refused, adamant they want to be taken to Australia even though they were rescued in international waters within Indonesia’s search and rescue zone.

Senator Joyce said if Prime Minister Kevin Rudd wanted to be tough on border protection, he should send the boat to Sri Lanka.

“If you want to show strength, if you want to be decisive… then send the Oceanic Viking to Colombo and you will have made a strong statement,” he told the Nine Network on Sunday. More

ABC  – Joyce’s asylum solution ‘breaches refugee convention’

The Federal Government says sending a group of asylum seekers on board an Australian Customs ship back to Sri Lanka would breach the refugee convention.

The 78 Sri Lankans have been on board the Oceanic Viking for three weeks and are refusing to get off.

Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce says the Government should send the ship to Sri Lanka.

But the Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith has ruled it out.

“We are certainly not proposing to take up the suggestion of the Leader of the National party in the Senate, that they be returned to Sri Lanka,” he said. More

AFP – France asks Sri Lanka to end emergency laws

A top French envoy on Saturday asked Sri Lanka to end its state of emergency and probe war crimes ahead of a key European Union ruling on trade concessions to the troubled island.

Ambassador for Human Rights, Francois Zimeray, said he hoped Colombo will signal the ending of its war with Tamil rebels in May by withdrawing emergency laws which allowed the detention of suspects for long periods without trial.

“Ending of the emergency (in force since 1983) should have been the first consequence of ending the war (in May),” he said at the end of three-days of talks with key Sri Lankan leaders on the island’s human rights situation. More

News.com.au – Asylum seekers call for help on mobiles

People aboard several boats have made multiple calls to AMSA and other government agencies, including Defence, stating they need help.

A spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor confirmed asylum seekers on a boat in Indonesian waters had been calling AMSA via mobile phones.

“Obviously AMSA would get a message, usually via radio, but people use whatever method they can,” the spokesman said.

“I believe they contacted a number of authorities, including Defence and other government agencies. More

MEDIA RELEASE from Refugee Action Coalition

Bring the Sri Lankan asylum seekers to Australia.

REFUGEE GROUPS REJECT SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT ALLEGATIONS AGAINST “ALEX”

Refugee groups have condemned the statements from the Sri Lankan government alleging that Alex is a people smuggler. “It is the Sri Lankan government and the Australian government that is on trial not Alex,” said Ian Rintoul,spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.

“These statements make it even more imperative that the Australian government bring the Tamils to Australia. How many others on the boat have the Sri Lankan government attempted to identify with the risk that their families in Sri Lanka will face further persecution.

“The Sri Lankan government is trying to hide its shocking record of human rights abuses. It is the Sri Lankan government that has to answer for thea buse of the rights of Tamils in Sri Lanka. It is the Australian government’s Indonesian solution that is on trial,” said Ian Rintoul,spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition

“Alex is only guilty of fighting for the rights of the250 Tamil asylum seekers on the boat at Merak. Alex should be praised for that. Whether he did or did not grow up in Canada has nothing to do with the human rights abuses in Sri Lanka today or his claim or the claims of the 250 in Merak for refugee status.

“The Sri Lankan government is attempting to intimidate Alex by publicly saying they know who he is. The Australian government must make to clear they hold the Sri Lankan government responsible for the safety of any members of his family in Sri Lanka.“

The Australian government should be sending a strong message to the Sri Lankan government by bringing the Tamil asylum seekers at Merak and those on the Oceanic Viking to Australia. Unless the Australian government delegate John McCarthy raises the human rights abuses with the Sri Lankan president, the Australian government will be complicit in the on-going abuse of Tamils in Sri Lanka. There are over 250,000 Tamils in internment camps in Sri Lanka.

“Alex has made it clear that all the 250 people are more than willing to put their refugee claims before the UNHCR or the Australian authorities.

The Australian government should be insisting that the UNHCR be allowed access to the asylum seekers and begin to process their claims.

”A rally to demand that the Tamils asylum seekers in Indonesia be brought to Australia will be held on Monday 9 November, 12.30pm, Immigration Department, Lee St, Sydney. A phone link with Alex will allow him to speak to the protest.

For more information contact Refugee Action Coalition: Ian Rintoul 0417 275713

The below article by Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane appeared in yesterdays (06/11) Crikey. Please subscribe to Crikey and support independant media

Memo. To: PM. Re: Oceanic Viking. Subject: “gamebreaker” option

Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane writes:

Prime Minister
You have sought options for resolving the Oceanic Viking stand-off, within the policy parameters of both
* your stated policy of being “tough but humane” and
* the need to avoid a community reaction both to perceived mistreatment of the asylum seekers and to perceived favourable treatment of them.

We regret to advise that these policy parameters considerably circumscribe options.

In retrospect, the removal of the asylum seekers to Christmas Island immediately after their rescue would have avoided both the ensuing stand-off (or, as you termed it in our briefing this week, the contraindicated disembarkation dispute) and internal Indonesian disputes which may constrain the capacity of President Yudyohono to provide ongoing assistance on the asylum seeker issue.

We also note your ongoing and volubly-expressed frustration that the Opposition has declined to state its own position on the matter. We regret to advise that this matter is beyond your control.

Available options appear to be:

Compel the disembarkation of the asylum seekers by Customs personnel. This would have mixed political outcomes, drawing criticism from supporters of asylum seekers (the “humanes”) and support from those antipathetic toward asylum seekers (the “toughs”). However, such a course of action is likely to alienate both local Indonesian authorities and the Indonesian Government itself. As the long-term cooperation of Indonesian authorities is critical to the success of Australia’s broader asylum-seeker policy, this option would appear to be counter-productive given the small number of asylum seekers concerned.

Dispatch the Oceanic Viking to Sri Lanka As Sri Lankan citizens, the return of the asylum seekers to Sri Lanka would be an arguable course of action, and one likely to draw support from the more vicious-minded “toughs” in the community and certain elements in the media. It was also attract considerable criticism on the correct grounds that it is likely to be returning genuine refugees to the authorities from whom they are seeking refuge. Moreover, they are less likely to disembark in Sri Lanka than in Indonesia, leading us back to the issues outlined in Option 1.

Transfer the asylum seekers to Christmas Island. On the basis that the legitimacy or otherwise of the asylum claims of the group is not affected by the location in which the assessment is made, it makes no difference whether the assessment is made on Christmas Island or elsewhere. However, the demonstration effect of the success of asylum seekers who have been rescued in Indonesian waters on others who may attempt to reach Australia in unsuitable vessels may increase the likelihood of the loss of vessels and those aboard them. It would also be portrayed as a major defeat both for the Government politically and for its border protection policies.

A possible resolution may be for the permit for the Oceanic Viking to operate in Indonesian waters to be allowed to lapse by the Indonesian Government, thereby compelling its withdrawal to Christmas Island. This would permit the Government to portray the transfer to Christmas Island as a legal and diplomatic necessity.

In summary, your own assessment of your options in our briefing earlier this week is correct: you are indeed located in a waterborne faecal concourse unequipped with an appropriate means of propulsion.

However, you may wish to consider a “gamebreaker” option that would shift the debate over asylum seekers in your favour.

In 1998 the previous Government undertook to accept over 4000 Kosovan refugees fleeing Serbian ethnic cleansing. You may wish to consider a similar undertaking: commit Australia to accepting, for example, 10,000 Tamil asylum seekers in the next 18 months, but on the basis that they are assessed and subject to appropriate security vetting by Australian authorities offshore, while any boat arrivals would be subjected to the current assessment and detention process.

This would reduce the incentive for asylum seekers to reach Australia by boat by providing an alternative means of access to Australia’s humanitarian program. The 10,000 could be a temporary addition to Australia’s humanitarian intake or the numbers could be “borrowed” from the 2011-12 humanitarian intake, as was done for the Kosovan refugees.

This would represent a genuine effort on Australia’s part to address a key “push factor” in regional asylum seeker numbers while enabling the Government to legitimately deter dangerous attempts to reach Australia by boat.

Such a decision may draw criticism from both “toughs” and “humanes”. Unfortunately, your stated preference for an option that everyone is happy with is currently unavailable.