Sri Lankan Navy and the Higher Ups Behind Human Trafficking

Sri Lankan Navy and the Higher Ups Behind Human Trafficking.

The Sri Lankan government drafted a master plan and implementing to get rid of the Tamil population out of the country using its Armed Forces.. Tamils are denied their political rights. There is no peace and no reconciliation. Tens of thousands of Tamils remain without any source of income for living, their villages are sealed off for more than 3 decades in the name of security zone or the mine fields and their houses are destroyed purposely. They have made nowhere to go. Military rule, kidnapping, torture rape and no sign of any political solution has made them to take dangerous risks to flee by boat. The The SL navy is making use of this opportunity to make money and fulfill the dirty plan to get rid of the Tamil Population.

Community members have reported that Navy personnel have been escorting asylum seekers to international waters. Traffickers are requiring that boat people to provide a copy of their birth certificate before departing. People are being asked to sign the back of those documents and also to include a short note that mentions the day they are leaving Sri Lanka. Then traffickers collect those forms and removing the names of those leaving from voter lists. They’re losing their right to vote. People know that this is happening. Human trafficking fills the pockets of smugglers and make Sri Lanka free of Tamils.

Unless the International Community and the international Organizations take some drastic action the boats will keep on sailing from the shores of Sri Lanka. The only solution to this burning poblem is find a political solution to the Tamils with their right of self-determination where they can live peacefully and with dignity.

Thank you,

Yours Truly,

Kumarathasan Rasingam

PRESIDENT

http://groundviews.org/2012/07/19/troubled-waters-corruption-and-human-trafficking-in-post-war-sri-lanka/

From an Interviewee

During its interviews with one community member in Trincomalee, TSA was able to obtain the following additional information. Please note that these are all direct quotations:

“The Navy are taking people to a place called Salli in Trincomalee.”
“The Navy has been helping direct boats to international waters.”
“One of the people will be trained to operate the boat. To me it makes sense to get an ex-combatant to do it.”

“You have to contact a person from Trincomalee to make all the arrangements; they’re the ones who know how to arrange the logistics.”
“With the Navy’s assistance, they’re reaching international waters and then they get on a different ship.”

“Nobody knows whether you’ll be arrested, or reach your destination or come back to Sri Lanka.”
“They won’t even tell you how many days it takes to reach your destination.”
“Right now, you cannot really see young men in Puttulam, Chilaw or Udappu. Most have gone away.”

“The Navy is sending people out to tackle terrorism; that’s why this is happening. The irony here is, when we reach Australia, we are registering as terrorists. The only way you’ll get asylum in Australia is by saying that you are an ex-combatant.”

“The traffickers are removing the names of those leaving from voter lists. I just know it. They’re losing their right to vote. People know that this is happening.”
“Approximately 13,000 people have left since this operation started. Out of that, 3,000 are from Trincomalee. Almost all are Tamils.”

This interviewee also noted that a small business enterprise in Jaffna has lost five out of twenty-two employees as a result of this trafficking.

Analysis

These recent developments raise a number of questions, some of which are still difficult to answer. For starters, the timing of this influx in illegal migration may have a political component. After all, voter registration has been in full swing since early June. July 15 had been the intended deadline to collect all registration forms.[6] In spite of the announced deadline, registration forms are still being collected by the government in some locations.[7] A few community members have voiced suspicions over what has recently transpired. There is a palpable concern that traffickers have been taking copies of peoples’ birth certificates in order to cross peoples’ names off voter registration lists. Why else would human traffickers need such documents? And why would they want people to write a short note announcing the day they have left Sri Lanka?

Why have traffickers not been asking for other assets? Sure, items like televisions might be too cumbersome, but what about jewelry? Why are land deeds and permits the only assets that traffickers will accept besides money? (Interestingly, land deeds from Udappu are comparatively more valuable).