'Australia-bound illegal migrants are economic refugees'

Disna Mudalige

Sri Lankan asylum seekers in Australia are not political refugees but economic refugees in reality, Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said.

Addressing a press conference at the ministry yesterday, the minister said illegal migration to Australia will continue as long as the Australian government supports them without questioning the accuracy of their statements.

He said these asylum seekers are going in pursuit of economic relief and other facilities in Australia which is a developed country, by making false statements that they are harassed by various groups.

The minister said the per capita income of Australia is much higher than the per capita income of Sri Lanka and therefore their living standards are inevitably higher than what people in Sri Lanka can enjoy.

He said it is difficult to control illegal migration as long as the Australian government continues to vest political refugee status to randomly selected illegal migrants. Rambukwella requested the Australian government to send back Sri Lankan illegal migrants in the guise of political refugees.

He said if they were deported under an agreement between the two countries, the government was ready to accept them under relaxed laws.

Rambukwella said otherwise the normal legal procedure will be implemented. The minister said Opposition parties in Australia expressed concern over this issue after he made these remarks to an international media channel recently. He said human trafficking, drug trafficking, prostitution and contract murders were some of the mechanisms used by the LTTE to find money.