Australia and Sri Lanka have today dealt a blow to people smugglers operating in the region through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) enabling even closer cooperation between the two countries on counter-people smuggling. The MOU will facilitate the return to Sri Lanka of people who are involved in people smuggling activities. It also paves the way for enhanced information sharing on methods for tracking, intercepting and investigating people smugglers. The MOU was signed at a ceremony in Canberra by Department of Immigration and Border Protection Secretary Michael Pezzullo and Sri Lankan Secretary for Defence Kapila Mudantha Waidyaratne. Australia’s strong and cooperative relationships with international partners including Sri Lanka are an important part of Australia’s multi-layered approach to combating people smuggling and preventing people from risking their lives on illegal boat voyages to Australia. Since Operation Sovereign Borders began in 2013, every attempted people smuggling venture from Sri ...