Kaleidoscope with Savithri Rodrigo 190 28 12 2023 It’s our last show for 2023 – we are on Christmas Island with economic analyses, good reads, old tortoises, eyelash art & the 2024 crystal ball. ...
Another 91 held in aborted illegal sea voyage: Human traffickers exploiting current economic crisis – By LEON BERENGER Source:sundayobserver.lk Human traffickers are believed to be exploiting the current economic crisis in the country to convince unsuspecting persons to part with large sums of money in return for a safe boat passage to Australian territorial waters, the Navy said yesterday. The warning came even as another 91 Sri Lankans were nabbed on land and sea last week while planning to embark on an illegal voyage to Australia bringing the total number to 203 over the past three weeks. Among those apprehended were 17 women and 11 children including a month-old infant, Navy spokesman Captain Indika de Silva told the Sunday Observer yesterday. He said among those rounded up were some 16 people described as the handlers of the attempted illegal sea voyages. “Time and again, the Navy along with other State ...
Scared of hunger, Sri Lankans are willing to risk their lives on boats – By Chris Barrett Source:theage.com.au Sri Lanka/Singapore: At a fish market in Negombo, an hour’s drive north of Colombo, Mallika Fernando had a message for me via my interpreter. “Tell him to take us to Australia by boat,” said the 57-year-old fish seller, as she struggled to offload what she had at her waterfront stall last week She was only half joking. Sri Lanka’s crippling economic collapse has seen the prices of everything – from fish to rice, to petrol – soar, triggering a food security crisis in a nation already bankrupt. Now, as people struggle to make ends meet, some are looking for a way out and the boats towards Australia have resumed. Last month, on the morning of the federal election, a small trawler was intercepted by Australian Border Force west of Christmas Island. Its 12 ...
Calls for permanent visas for Biloela asylum seeker family as supporters prepare for homecoming – By John Baldock, Biwa Kwan Source: sbs.com.au The long-term future of the Murugappan family remains uncertain, after they were issued with temporary bridging visas to facilitate their return to the central Queensland town of Biloela next month. Refugee advocates and Greens senator Sarah Hanson Young have called on the new Anthony Albanese government to go further and approve permanent visas for the Murugappan family who have been allowed to return to Biloela next month. Nades, Priya and their daughters, Kopika and Tharunicaa are due to arrive in the Queensland town of Biloela by early June. Supporters of the Tamil asylum seeker family – who were detained in Australia’s immigration detention system for four years – are preparing for their return. Family friend Angela Fredericks said arrangements are being made for accommodation, furniture and school for the ...
Tamil asylum seeker family cleared to return home to Biloela on bridging visas, Acting Home Affairs Minister says – By Erin Semmler, Rachel McGhee Source: abc.net.au Acting Home Affairs Minister Jim Chalmers has announced that Tamil asylum seekers, the Nadesalingam family, will be allowed to return to the central Queensland town of Biloela. The family, also known as the Murugappans, will be able to return and live in the community on bridging visas while they await their case to be resolved in court. Nades, Priya and their two daughters, Kopika and Tharnicaa, have been in detention for the past four years after immigration officials detained them in 2018. The family were held on Christmas Island for two years before their youngest daughter was medically evacuated to Perth, where they have been in community detention since June 2021. It comes after Labor promised during the campaign that if it won the election, the ...
Biloela Tamil asylum seeker family set to return to town after election result – By Tobi Loftus Source:abc.net.au Supporters of a central Queensland Tamil asylum seeker family say they are hopeful the family are just weeks away from returning home. Labor promised during the campaign that if it won the election the Nadesalingam family would be allowed to return home to Biloela. Family friend Angela Fredericks said there was “so much relief” among the Home2Bilo campaigners after Labor’s election win. “I honestly don’t think I can find the words to explain it,” Ms Fredericks said. “There is so much excitement, so much relief and exuberance. It has all been worth it. “I think at the end of the day we have shown Australia that love, and humanity can win and community can win.” Just over four years ago the Nadesalingam family, also known as the Murugappan family, were removed from their home ...
Australia releases Sri Lankan family from island detention Source:-www.dw.com Australia’s conservative government will allow the release of a Tamil asylum-seeking family from the Christmas Island detention center in the Indian Ocean, officials said Tuesday. The Sri Lankan family of four, who were living in the small Queensland town of Biloela before their detention, have been the center of a campaign that sought the shutdown of Australia’s offshore asylum detention camps. Public anger grew recently after the 4-year-old daughter was flown to Perth for medical treatment for a blood infection, and only her mother was allowed to travel with her. Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said the family would stay in Perth while they exhaust their legal options, as the government came under backlash over its handling of the case. “In making this determination, I am balancing the government’s ongoing commitment to strong border protection policies with appropriate compassion in circumstances involving children in detention,” Hawke ...
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