Illegality of Rohingya asylum seekers smuggled to Sri Lanka: UNHCR can hire an island in Maldives and keep them!
Posted on September 27th, 2017
Shenali D Waduge
There are several issues that need to be dealt with within the legal framework and devoid emotional ties. Firstly, no person can enter a country illegally. Anyone entering a country must have valid identity, valid passport and valid visa approvals. Sri Lanka is not a party to the 1951 Refugee. Convention or the 1967 Protocol. Therefore, Sri Lanka is not bound or cannot be forced to accept any refugee or asylum seekers. The danger in this Convention is that over a period of time signatories are bound to give citizenship to these refugees. Human smuggling/illegal people transportation is a global business & transnational crime. With Sri Lanka cash strapped, already with own IDPs to resettle we are not in any position to be accepting & looking after refugees/asylum seekers. Given the emotional involvement, this next questions why the 57 member Islamic Organization states who are Majority Muslim nations are not accepting these Rohingya Muslims with open arms?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpk3iMTDLYU
Sri Lanka’s navy intercepted a boat carrying 30 Rohingya refugees, who had been living in India and two suspected Indian traffickers after they tried to enter the country illegally. Police spokesman, Priyantha Jayakody said, the island nation’s navy and coastguard stopped the boat and its human cargo, which included 16 children, off Sri Lanka’s northern shores on Sunday. He added the 30 Rohingyas who had been living in India for five years and the two suspected traffickers appeared before the magistrate on Monday and were remanded until Tuesday. According to a local human rights official, the refugees planned final destination had reportedly been Australia.
(30 Rohingyas landed in early 2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbVAEo-SJSI
(38 Rohingyas found in a rented home in Mount Lavinia are these the same Rohingyas who were intercepted in early 2017?)
රෝහින්ග්යා මුස්ලිමුන් ගල්කිස්සේ ; ළමයින්ව පාසැලුත් යවලා – Rohingya News-Mount Lavinia , Sri Lanka
A video has emerged depicting a house in Mount Laving keeping over 30 Rohingya refugees all with families & children and some even attending schools. Two Muslim officials of the UNHCR had also been present while it is alleged that regularly Sri Lankan Ministers visit with food & provisions. It is alleged that there are 13 other places where more Rohingyas are being kept. All these certainly needs to be verified & confirmed but it does raise credibility of government statements and assurances that publicly confirmed that the GOSL had not decided to accept any refugees.
Given that neither India or Sri Lanka are signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol, Sri Lanka is NOT bound to accept any refugees or asylum seekers. Countries that are party to it will have to at some time or other offer citizenship to these refugees.
The question is who is looking after them, feeding them, paying for their rent, clothes and how were they able to get admission to a government school. Generally a citizen to admit a child has to produce birth certificates, grama sevaka certificate and so many other records. How did people who do not even have proper passports or visa get their children admitted to schools.
The other all important question is in the event of a birth of a child of an asylum seeker what is the procedure followed? Is that child given citizenship in that country. A federal court has ruled that a baby born in Australia to an asylum seeker is not entitled to a refugee visa. What is the law to be followed in Sri Lanka?
From the video clipping it emerges that UNHCR officials (Muslim) have been involved and are visiting them. The next question is, has UNHCR opened refugee status determination (RSD) file for each of these Rohingyas?
The public have every right to be given answers. Given that the people are mindful that a well organized and planned attempt to bring Muslims into the country has been put in place.
This first emerged in 2011 when environmentalists highlighted deforestation inside Wilpattu forests and setting up of illegal Muslim settlements plus a mosque. A report was handed over to the President in 2015 detailing over 1500 houses being constructed illegally funded by countries treated as funding terrorists (Qatar)
http://nation.lk/online/2015/06/27/illegal-settlements-around-wilpattu-national-park.html
The response of the Muslim minister was These Muslims whom I am resettling and have resettled in the Wilpattu National Park after clearing the jungle and also in the Northern province, are partly my voter base. There is nothing illegal in building houses and places as I have acquired permission in a correct manner from the relevant line ministries and this is sanctioned by the government,”
Sri Lanka’s Government must take a stand not allow ethnic-MPs to turn refugees into vote base likely to lead to plenty more unwanted troubles!
We cannot allow minority politicians to fatten their voter base by bringing illegal asylum seekers!
However, Sri Lanka saw a 780% increase in asylum seekers and they were all Muslims.
It was in 2017 that Sri Lanka’s coastguards seized an Indian fishing boat and detained 2 Indians and 30 Rohingya Muslims among whom were 14 children.
As of March 31, 2017 there were 572 asylum seekers in Sri Lanka from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, Syria other than the Rohingyas – all Muslims.
These asylum seekers have travelled quite a distance bypassing many countries many of them Muslim countries too. Why should they travel so far?
- Afghanistan to Sri Lanka – 3,191 km
- Pakistan to Sri Lanka –
- 2,769 km
- Yemen to Sri Lanka – 3,607 km
- Iran to Sri Lanka – 3,904 km
- Syria to Sri Lanka – 5,199 km
- Bangladesh to Sri Lanka – 2,027 km
- Myanmar to Sri Lanka – 2254.4 km
The majority populace has many reasons to be concerned and raise objections against these asylum seekers.
Firstly, we don’t know how many of these asylum seekers are linked to Al Qaeda & ISIS given that there are 5 Rohingya groups under tutelage of terrorists. In 2016, Sri Lanka’s defense authorities revealed that 36 Sri Lankans had joined ISIS.
http://www.dailymirror.lk/101721/36-sri-lankans-gone-to-syria-some-to-join-isis-def-secy Another article pondered whether Sri Lanka was turning into an IS hub www.ceylontoday.lk/print20160701CT20161030.php?id=3383 While another explored Sri Lanka as a transit hub for cocaine smugglers. http://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2017/08/31/Sri-Lanka-an-emerging-transit-hub-for-cocaine-smugglers-.html
Sri Lanka whilst not being signatory to the Convention is not bound to accept or keep any of these asylum seekers, therefore it is wrong for the UNHCR to slyly house them and even send them to school, how many in the Government or even in the Opposition knew of this arrangement?
If the Japanese PM can tell that his country has to deal with falling birth rates and an aging population before open its doors to refugees, Sri Lanka must have the guts to say we too are just out of a 3 decade terrorist conflict and we are having internal IDPs to resettle (as of 2016 – 42,038 IDPs need to be resettled). Moreover, the Muslim birth factor is a subject that Sri Lanka will soon have to deal with seriously too. Myanmar has taken the issue seriously enough to bring legislation – only one spouse, religious conversion law, interfaith marriage law and population control law.
Hungary, Austria, Czech and Poland refused to take Muslim refugees. While Western countries are now complaining of cultural issues and assimilation problems that authorities are unable to handle. India has also refused the 40,000 Rohingyas and has banned them as illegal immigrants. The reluctance of Bangladesh to accept them is probably due to the population explosion that Bangladesh is unable to deal with!
However, it is practical that Muslim asylum seekers/refugees should be put up in Muslim majority countries where they practice Islam and follow the same cultures. UNHCR must make this part of their policy when formulating applications.
There are 1.9billion Muslims globally. 57 Muslim nations make up the Organization of Islamic Cooperation of which 49 are predominantly Muslim with a combined population of 1.6billion holding 70% of the world’s energy resources, 40% of natural resources. The collective GDP of these countries was $4.7trillion. However, the combined GDP of $4.7trillion of these 57 countries is less than Japan’s $4.8trillion.
The contribution of OIC was only 8% towards world GDP.
The Arab states in the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman & UAE) had refused to accept the 9m Syrians displaced since 2011. As GCC is not signatory to the UN 1951 Refugee Convention it is not bound by law to accept refugees.
56% of the world’s 21 million refugees are being hosted by just 10 countries who account for just 2.5 percent of the global economy. (Amnesty International)
Jordan (2.7m), Turkey (2.5m), Pakistan (1.6m), Lebanon (1.5m), Iran (979,400), Ethiopia (736,100), Kenya (553,900), Uganda (477,200), Congo (383,100), Chad (369,500)
The UK that has been part of the bombing campaign against Syria resulting in the exodus of refugees has taken less than 8000 Syrians since 2011.
We next come to the biggest and often not spoken aspect associated with refugees/asylum seekers and one that should get the attention of the Sri Lankan public who feel sorry for people travelling in boatloads.
Human smuggling is a business & a transnational crime
The reality is that human smuggling is a transnational crime & billion dollar business.
According to UN human trafficking is a $150 Billion a year industry. 20.9 million people are living in some sort of slavery (that’s the entire population of Sri Lanka)
There are approximately 20 to 30 million slaves in the world today.
Smuggling illegal immigrants is a big business. According to a UN report depending on the immigrant’s country of origin they pay something between $150 to $100,000 which covers the cost of the journey, hotel, bribes, taxes paid to the drug cartels. Apparently it is $10,000 to be smuggled to Australia!
Into this baby selling trade is also involved. Buying babies from pregnant women in Nigeria is another lucrative trade. In Nigeria a women gets $378 for giving a boy and $189 for delivering a girl for trade. Babies in Indonesia are sold from $160 to $250. Even children in the UK are sold for $25,000.
Child trafficking is also a lucrative trade. Notice how many children were among the 31 Rohingyas who were intercepted living in a house in Mount Laviniya a few days back without the knowledge of even the police. According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 20% of all human trafficking cases involve children. According to UNICEF at least 1.2 million children are trafficked globally annually. Of this 230 million children worldwide are born without official birth certificates, making them impossible to track. In Thailand it is $25 typical price to rent” a child beggar.
Aligned to this is the global prostitution trade as well. There are 42million prostitutes worldwide in an industry that generates at least $186billion
Many of these refugees are sold into prostitution. In Iraq girls are sold – $5,000 for Virgins, $2.500 for Non-Virgins. In Canada $4,879 is paid by pimp to trafficker. According to ILO $99 billion from commercial sexual exploitation. A 2003 study in the Netherlands found that, on average, a single sex slave earned her pimp at least $250,000 a year.
To further highlight the dangerous scenario the BBC Radio 5 Live investigation report is noteworthy. Quoting from the report
African refugees dreaming of a better life in Europe must attend anti-Western religious education” courses before boarding the ramshackle vessels.”
“European police don’t know who is from IS and who is a normal refugee.”
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/577796/Islamic-State-earn-millions-human-trafficking
According to ILO The Asia-pacific region accounts for the largest number of forced laborers— 15.4 million (62% of the global total). As you can see unbelievable things are happening. Therefore, there is very valid ground for caution. Human trafficking has surpassed the illegal sale of arms.
The reality is shocking. This is why any asylum seeker must be viewed with caution. Sri Lanka does not know the gravity of the situation.
Given that Sri Lanka is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention, there is no requirement to accept Rohingya Muslims and UNHCR should desist from encouraging boatloads to arrive to seek shelter in Sri Lanka.
As a solution, it is suggested that UNHCR approach Maldives and hire an island to maintain these Rohingya asylum seekers given that the UNHCR would be anyway maintaining them (food, clothing, housing etc). Since Maldives is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention, UNHCR would have to seek permission from the Maldives government but it is advisable that Muslim refugees be placed in Muslim countries as these Rohingyas like all Muslims insist on giving prominence to their faith, their eating habits, their dress habits, their prayers, their Shariah compliant laws and customs and it is best that countries that follow these laws and customs will be the best and happiest place for these Muslim refugees/asylum seekers amongst their own.
It is the most practical solution that would make these Muslim Rohingyas feel at home and the Muslim majority countries can be happy that they are looking after their destitute brothers and sisters. The issue of non-Muslims not wanting them in view of the complications that are likely to arise as a result of marriage, religion, birth, customs would not arise if Muslim refugees are living with people who follow the same in countries where Islam and Shariah laws prevail.
Shenali D Waduge
- http://www.colombotoday.com/52233287-2/
- http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2014/06/01/ltte-human-smuggling-links/
- http://www.havocscope.com/black-market-prices/human-smuggling-fees/
- http://www.havocscope.com/black-market-prices/human-trafficking-prices/
- https://www.factretriever.com/human-trafficking-facts
September 27th, 2017 at 2:11 pm
I agree with Shenali.
Not a single Rohingya person should be allowed to settle down in Sri Lanka. All must be peacefully deported. Given their massive population growth (as can be seen from the video) Sri Lanka will face a demographic onslaught. These 31 are testing the waters. If they can live in the island, hundreds of thousands will creep in.
Authorities must deport them without leaving the matter into the hands of locals. Scenes in Mount Lavinia were ugly and unnecessary, however, not taking action is worse. If Rohingyas keep coming into the island, there will be a wider conflict with the Muslim community backed by some international powers.
Interesting how they landed in Jaffna initially but could not live in Jaffna! They were found living in the south. Tamils have cleverly guarded themselves passing the buck to the Sinhalese.
This must be nipped in the bud. Rohingyas must be told in no uncertain terms that they are not welcomed in Sri Lanka and they must leave.
September 27th, 2017 at 3:33 pm
If you have not noticed, number of Nadu “fishing” boats crossing to SL waters reduced drastically in recnet couple of months. This could mean it is more productive to trasports Muslims than catching fish for Nadu rougues. Actual number could be 1000s (not 30), those Wilpattu houses build by Mahinda could be for these “refugees” to settle down secretly.
September 28th, 2017 at 1:44 am
Completely AGREE with Shenali!
The UNHCR should send Muslim Refugees to MUSLIM Countries! Leave OTHER Countries ALONE!
Choose the WEALTHIEST SPARSELY POPULATED WEALTHY Muslim countries that EXPORT fanatical Muslim ideologies for this purpose!
Saudi Arabia should HEAD the list of “SAFE HAVENS” for Muslim Refugees!
September 28th, 2017 at 2:26 am
UNHCR can hire an island in Maldives and keep them!- Shenali D Waduge Why not Mother Lanka ???
September 28th, 2017 at 4:16 am
Our grateful thanks to Shenali for important articles.
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Bringing in poor illiterate outsiders to Sri Lanka using various ploys, is to DESTABILISE & IMPOVERISH LANKA !
Say a loud and resounding “NO” to such moves, from whatever quarter.
It all started with the import of poor low CASTE folk, mostly Dalits, from Tamil Nadu during the Colonised era. The Dutch & the British brought in Tamil Nadu poor folk to work the tea, tobacco and various other plantations in then Ceylon. Over one and half MILLION such people were brought in.
Net result is the ‘divide & rule’ by foreign sources and their local Agents.
Nearly 30 yrs of LTTE terrorism is the result, and the country in shambles.
It’s high time that Tamil folk realise that their CASTE and other issues created in Tamil Nadu cannot be resolved in Sri Lanka.
Go to the source of the problem for resolution of such problems, that is, to INDIA.
Use machines for work in Lanka. Lanka cannot import cheap labor any more !
E.g. At least 4 workers can be replaced through one Tea pluckiing machine. This is what is done now in almost all tea growing countries.
The local workers will take on any type of work, provided dignity of labor is maintained and machines used too.
We agree that poor Muslim refugees ought to go to large and wealthy Muslim countries.
It is high time that Sri Lanka formulated strong laws to stop refugees & illegal migration, in whatever form. Lanka is just too small in land size for such moves, and impoverished too.
Poor refugees must go elsewhere, not come into Lanka.
No one is stopping concerned people going to those troubled countries and helping the needy there.
September 28th, 2017 at 5:50 am
Why do ROHINGYAS come to SL? Because MR treated them well and sent them to USA!!
55 Rohingyas came to SL in 2008. They all went to USA in 2012.
151 Rohingyas came to SL in 2013. They all went to USA in 2015.
This is why they keep coming.
September 28th, 2017 at 6:10 am
MUSLIM MINISTER RSHAR BADURDEEN IS BEHIND THIS IMPORT OF MUSLIMREFUGEES!!! Its no SECRET And that DIRTY MUSLIM RACIST IS WORKING VERY HARD TO MAKE THIS A MUSLIM COUNTRY. Dirty President Sirisena, & B’landa RANIL ARE HELPING TTHEM TO STAY IN POWER FOR EVER WITHOUT REALISING THE FACT THAT “EVERY ACTION HAS A REACTION”!!!Sirisena at UNO SAID THAT HE DEFEATED A DICTATOR LIKE FORMER PRESIDENT “GREAT M.R”
But he is the very man who said “APEY RAJANENI,GELWUM KARAYANENI when MR DEFEATED THE LTTE TAMIL TERRORISTS WHO WERE KILLING INNOCENT MOSTLY SINHALESE’
Atleast people with a good sence that “All under YAHAPALANAYA ARE CROOKS,ROUGHES,LOOTERS,WHEN THINK OF THE “FAMOUS BOND SCAM OF RANIL,RAVI AND MANY”. Previous regime ALTHOUGH THEY ROBBED,MANY GOOD WORKS TOO HAD BEEN DONE WHERE PEOPLE & ALSO THE COUNTRY GAINED FROM THEM!!!
Now its time to CHASE OUT THESE MUSLIM TERRORISTS FROM THE SINHALA,BUDHIST LAND, “SIRI LANKA”!!!
September 28th, 2017 at 6:10 am
This is why they keep coming.- so why worry ? so they will go to USA mean time We get money from UNHCR for looking after then also Dharama , oh.. sorry You would not understand that.
common … Sinhela sakodaraya please look after them just only 100 or 200 or may maximum 1000, You know how many We Tamil kalathonis are living in OUR Mother Sinhela island 1 or 2 million ???
September 28th, 2017 at 6:11 am
MUSLIM MINISTER RISHARD BADURDEEN IS BEHIND THIS IMPORT OF MUSLIMREFUGEES!!! Its no SECRET And that DIRTY MUSLIM RACIST IS WORKING VERY HARD TO MAKE THIS A MUSLIM COUNTRY. Dirty President Sirisena, & B’landa RANIL ARE HELPING TTHEM TO STAY IN POWER FOR EVER WITHOUT REALISING THE FACT THAT “EVERY ACTION HAS A REACTION”!!!Sirisena at UNO SAID THAT HE DEFEATED A DICTATOR LIKE FORMER PRESIDENT “GREAT M.R”
But he is the very man who said “APEY RAJANENI,GELWUM KARAYANENI when MR DEFEATED THE LTTE TAMIL TERRORISTS WHO WERE KILLING INNOCENT MOSTLY SINHALESE’
Now its time to CHASE OUT THESE MUSLIM TERRORISTS FROM THE SINHALA,BUDHIST LAND, “SIRI LANKA”!!!
September 28th, 2017 at 9:25 am
All weaknesses will be exploited by some outside Others and some opportunists & UNPATRIOTIC/Non-National folks.
Have strong Laws to protect Sri Lanka, and abide by those Laws.
* First, get rid of the ILLEGAL 13-A !
* Activate the 6-A.
* No more “Crash & Sell’ programs !
September 28th, 2017 at 9:34 am
In Shenali’s article here, the well drawn graphic art pics on Human Trafficking say it all about creating human suffering for monetary gain for a few heartless people.
These pics ought to be replicated in all media and shown in Lanka and around the world.
That is the kind of work NGOs ought to do, isn’t it ?
Those who truly want to help needy folk should go to those countries and help out in whatever way they can, instead of creating human misery through human trafficking.
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Just look at what has been done with poverty ridden Dalits of INDIA !
INDIA expands her range of influence by shooing off their low caste folk into countries WITHOUT CASTE.
In Sri Lanka INDIA then trains these folk to do terrorism to form a separate state and imposes a 13-A to help that along !
The 13-A is still with Lankans and the attemtps to form a Separate State called Tamil Eelam is still going on through trumped up charges on HR violations against the Armed Forces.
Add to this the trumped up 1983 Riots to enable Tamils to go abroad to the west as REFUGEES – no other way to go there.
What a farce !
September 28th, 2017 at 7:20 pm
This guy trying to wash hands ! Problem is not the citizenship but how did our country become a Nauru , a detention centre (ONLY) for MUlism refugees , who have been kindly looked after by members of Sri lankan Muslim community.
Champika Says No Decision To Accommodate Rohingya Refugees: No Refugee Can Get Citizenship Except Through President
September 27, 2017
Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said the government of Sri Lanka or the Cabinet of Ministers has not made any decision to offer Sri Lankan citizenship to any Rohingya refugee.
“What Sri Lanka can offer is humanitarian assistance and ‘lodging’ until they find refugee status in another country,” Ranawaka said, in a social media statement, a short while ago.
“If a foreign refugee seeks Sri Lankan citizenship, it has to be sanctioned by President Maithripala Sirisena who is also the Defence Minister of the country,” the Minister explained.
He said some Rohingya refugees are temporarily accommodated in Sri Lanka due to the involvement of the UNHCR.
The understanding with the UNHCR, according to the Minister, was reached by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in December, 2005.
Ranawaka said some political orphans were trying to paint a wrong picture saying that the government was planning to permanently accommodate Rohingya refugees.
He said all international agencies involved, including the UNHCR, should expedite measures to find them refuge elsewhere, without attempting to assimilate them into the Sri Lankan society.
September 29th, 2017 at 4:18 am
Fastest Breeding Religion is also the Religion of utter violence. Bada Udin and A Sad alii (sad because of not
enough children? at least 10 is the norm?)etc followersof the fastest breeding religion breed breed and breed wherever they go. Reasons? Nobody
with a right mind believe this absurdity. No music, no drinks, no fags, no gambling, no films etc. etc. No fun in their lives. So
after a hard day’s work they need some sort of enjoyment. So go home and bash the old deer skin! If it is loaded
even better. So the place is awash with mussies in no time. As if we don’t have enough of this breeding menace,
bada udin, a sad ali etc. etc. mussies deshapalu low lives bring in more breeders. What these menaces don’t
understand is nobody wants them anywhere in the world. Even their own don’t want them! That’s the truth.
But the breeding goes unabated and trouble is rife wherever they go!
Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution destroyed the creator god myth. Still these brainwashed morons follow this
myth and accrue more and more sins. If killing, stealing, lying are not sins what are they? All the courts of laws
in the world accept them as wrong. But these religions of conveniences don’t regard them as sins. What bloody
hypocrites. In the end you only cheating yourself and accrue a lot of sins and end up not being two legged
creatures in their next lives! Practise a true religion! There is only one in the world, Buddhism!
September 29th, 2017 at 2:01 pm
Points to sort out :
(1) Champika Ranawaka says “No refugee can get citizenship except through President”.
Why ONLY tackle the problem created by REFUGEES ONLY, WHY NOT THE PROBLEM CREATED BY ILLEGAL MIGRANTS WHICH IS EVEN MORE DANGEROUS FOR SRI LANKA ?
What about the hundreds of thousands of ILLEGAL migrants from Tamil Nadu etc in Sri Lanka ?
Into what category do they fall – ILLEGAL migrants who are also REFUGEES ?
In the case of Tamil low caste folk who fled their Homeland of Tamil Nadu in INDIA, the question arises as to why they flee their Tamil Homeland of Tamil Nadu ?
It is said that hundreds of thousands of Tamils came during a drought in Tamil Nadu AND also similar numbers of low caste Tamils poured into Lanka during LTTE rule of the N&E.
All these people are DEFINTELY ILLEGAL MIGRANTS.
They ought to be deported.
(2) The proposed New Constitution is a grave danger to Sri Lanka.
Imagine PCs with full powers to do things as they wish, and add on an enhanced ILLEGAL MIGRANT situation … that would be pose the gravest danger of Sri Lanka.
September 29th, 2017 at 3:01 pm
Add to this danger the intent of Yahap in a few months time, to lease some 60,000 acres to Andra Pradesh (sub-state adjoining Tamil Nadu), to form an industrial estate in Lanka.
A’Pradesh has nearly 50% low caste people.
We leave it to your imagination just what may happen if this comes about.
September 30th, 2017 at 7:46 am
P.S. : Andra Pradesh low caste folk poured into Tamil Nadu during the N&E LTTE rule era, hoping to hop across to Lanka if and when Eelam formed.
Be warned, Lankans !