Disparaging comments about Tamil asylum seekers by the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia makes it almost certain they will meet the criteria of the Refugee Convention, even if they didn’t before, writes Andrew Bartlett.
Sri Lanka
Time to stand up for human rights in Sri Lanka — at last
It’s Sri Lanka Week, but rather than thinking about investments, perhaps we should focus on the 300,000 Tamils being imprisoned in an internment camp in the country, in direct violation of their human rights rights, writes Jake Lynch.
What is the fuss over former LTTE members in Australia?
Memo to Wilson Tuckey: There are already former members of the Tamil Tigers living in Australia — mostly professional people, raising successful children, writes Bruce Haigh.
Inside Indonesia’s brutal prisons
The Oz looks at the brutal conditions inside the Indonesian detention centres where the Sri Lankan asylum-seekers rejected by the Australian government are headed, which makes the Christmas Island facility look like a holiday resort.
Can Tamil Tigers be rehabilitated?
A $23m foreign-backed program in Sri Lanka is attempting to “rehabilitate” former members of the Tamil Tigers, many of whom were forcibly recruited and some as young as 12. But with anti-Tamil sentiment still raging, will Sri Lankans really accept former militants into their society?
Tuckey and the Tamil terrorists
Wilson Tuckey wasn’t over-stepping the mark to suggest that, if a large number of Tamils seek to enter Australia after the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, their ranks may contain former Tamil Tigers, says Bernard Keane. But of course, he had to take it that one step further…
Asylum seekers: territorial security versus electoral suicide
Kevin Rudd repeatedly denounces traffickers as “the vilest form of people on the planet” but says nothing whatsoever about those governing Sri Lanka — almost as if it’s morally worse to smuggle victims away from atrocities than it is to perpetrate them in the first place.
Oakes: Tough talking Rudd misses the real baddies
Rather than “beating the anti-asylum seeker drum’, Kevin Rudd should criticise the Sri Lankan government for their treatment of Tamils. That might improve conditions and decrease refugees, argues Laurie Oakes.
Rather than feed xenophobia, Rudd should push diplomacy
There is much more Australia could do to aid the plight of refugee Sri Lankan Tamils, writes Bruce Haigh. And how Kevin Rudd chooses to handle this diplomatic crisis will be a defining political moment.
Allard: Refugees tug at the heart strings but not hard enough
The Sri Lankan refugees returned to Indonesia have called a snap hunger strike and are making eloquent and heartfelt pleas to the media, but it will not be enough for an outpouring of national sympathy, writes Tom Allard.
Desperation weakens Tamils’ roar
So, the Tamil Tigers aren’t as mischievous as they once were, Mr Ruddock? As Jake Lynch explains, Tamil refugees are still being persecuted and living in horrific camp conditions.
Sri Lanka and its Manik approach to human rights
In Sri Lanka, an appalling human rights tragedy continues to play out. After the wake of the military defeat of the Tamil Tigers, 250,000 Tamils have been herded into detention.
Video shatters polite silence in Sri Lanka’s civil war
For the most part, the world discreetly hid its eyes from exactly what took place in Sri Lanka’s civil war. Until last week.
For Sri Lanka, the war goes on
The gunfire may have ended in Sri Lanka, but for the 300,000 Tamils still being held in internment camp, the struggle goes on. If those in government don’t change their course, they will simply steer the country towards more bloodshed in the future.
The end of the war not a new start for Tamils
The death of the Tamil Tigers’ leader in May this year ended Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war, however it hasn’t stopped Tamils’ claims for the end of discrimination against them.
Is Sri Lanka trying to silence the media?
Critics of the Sri Lankan government in the media are being abducted and beaten… what’s going on?
Breeding the next Sri Lankan insurgency behind razor wire
With hundreds of thousands of Tamils being held in detention, the seeds of future bloodshed are now being sown on a massive scale, writes Jeff Sparrow.
We must be vigilant on human rights in Sri Lanka
In recent weeks, the international community awoke from its slumber concerning the indignities and obscenities that have arisen during 25 years of conflict in Sri Lanka, writes Stephen Keim.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: News Ltd fights back… as does Online Opinion
“Your item yesterday about News Limited centralising features was largely incorrect,” writes Greg Baxter, Director, Corporate Affairs at News Ltd.
Ignoring the Issues: the end of the Tamil Tigers
The demise of the Tamil Tigers might give a moment of passing joy to the Sinhalese, but such relief will be short lived, writes Binoy Kampmark.
Can the Tamil Tigers survive with no leader?
With the reported death of Tigers leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, can the organisation regroup?
Tamil Tigers lay down their arms
With the dust still settling on the small patch of blood-soaked ground of Sri Lanka’s north-eastern coast where the Tigers saw their final stand, the world’s media descends.
The continuing horror in Sri Lanka
It is very hard for the international community to effectively intervene in this calamitous situation, but that’s no reason for barely trying at all, writes Andrew Bartlett.
