There is a Tamil man from the north of Sri Lanka, sitting in an Immigration detention facility in Victoria. He has been assessed as a refugee but is not allowed to be released. He is married. His wife is living with an Australian family.
The husband and wife are not allowed to spend time together. ASIO will not give him a security clearance. He will be in detention forever. It is sending the man and his wife mad. They are suicidal.
This situation, created by Australian politicians and government officials, is worse than a Kafka novel; it is worse than what happened under apartheid.
Denisan Santhiyoku and his wife, Antonet Innasimuthu, met in the process of fleeing Sinhalese violence at the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka. Antonet was granted refugee status and released from detention. Denisan was not.
Denisan has spoken to Australians concerned about the welfare and mental health of the couple. A record of conversation was compiled from several conversations.
“Denisan came from a fishing family, was educated and did a degree in fisheries at university. After that he worked for the Sri Lankan government in the Fisheries Department. In 2000 there was pressure on him to join the EPDP.”
Here it should be explained that the EPDP (Elam People’s Democratic Party) was a pro-government Tamil organisation funded by the Sri Lankan government to undermine the activities of the LTTE. Those who belonged to it and worked for it were regarded as turncoats by Tamils in the north. Denisan refused to join the organisation. His father was adamant that his son should not get involved in politics. Denisan left his job and he and his father went prawning.
“The prawns were running in an area controlled by the LTTE; as for all business people regardless of their politics or wishes, they had to pay tax to both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government.”
In 2003 Denisan ceased fishing and returned home. There was further pressure on him to join the EPDP. He fled the country to Malaysia where he worked as a volunteer for the Catholic Church for six years. “By then, young men were being kidnapped and murdered in Sri Lanka. The war was at its worst and it was too unsafe to return to home so he came to Christmas Island from Malaysia by boat. Antonet was on that boat. They were separated at Christmas Island but made a commitment to each other and married in Maribyrong Detention Centre as soon as they were advised it was permitted.
They have been refused any time together since arriving here on July 12, 2009. Denisan is now in his 9th year of being a refugee.
Serco has assessed them as being dignified, intelligent and hard working but advised that they can never spend any time together. Denisan has been assessed as being a non-violent person. He avoided getting involved in confrontations on Christmas Island, even though provoked.
There are several possible explanations for Denisan’s continued incarceration and they can all be sheeted home to the Sri Lankan government and ASIO. One is that he is the victim of mistaken identity, another that the Sri Lankan government has fingered him as being a member of the LTTE because he refused to join their puppet organisation the EPDP.
ASIO has no independent means of ascertaining the background of Tamil asylum seekers. They must of necessity rely on the Sri Lankan government for advice and clearances. But worse either through a mindset that has evolved over the past 10 years or because of continued vigorous lobbying by the Sri Lankan High Commission on behalf of their government or both, ASIO has deprived itself of the means and will to overturn unfair, ill-advised and biased decisions relating to refugees in the predicament of Denisan. And of course there is no review of ASIO decision making, so mistakes and incorrect decisions can hide behind the veil of secrecy; as I said just like apartheid — a Kafkaesque nightmare, with no one in ASIO or government having the courage to deploy commonsense or courage.
The Sri Lankan government is bent on retribution of the vanquished Tamils. It is a racist, vindictive and ugly campaign. It is bullying. Tamils living in Australia have been the subject of abusive Sinhalese emails and so have I. The reason Sri Lanka found itself embroiled in a civil war was the violence and bullying directed at Tamils.
There is no move towards reconciliation. As a sop to international public opinion the government of Sri Lanka established a “Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission”. The Report of the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka, found earlier this year that “…the LLRC fails to satisfy key international standards of independence and impartiality … In sum, the LLRC is deeply flawed, does not meet international standards for an effective accountability mechanism and, therefore, does not and cannot satisfy the joint commitment of the President of Sri Lanka and the Secretary-General to an accountability process.”
Amnesty International says, “Nevertheless, in the face of domestic and international pressure, including from such allies as India, the Sri Lankan government has still refused to make a credible effort to seek accountability. Instead, as it has done often in the past two decades, the Sri Lankan government has established an ad hoc special commission, ostensibly to investigate and address wrong doing, but in fact to deflect international pressure and silence internal critics … In October 2010, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group declined an invitation to testify before the LLRC, noting its severe shortcomings, including the commission’s inadequate mandate, insufficient guarantees of independence and lack of witness protection.”
From 1956 until 2008 there were 292 cases of state-sponsored violence against the Tamil community. These attacks are all on the public record. These attacks were eventually met with acts of indiscriminate violence, often amounting to acts of terror, by Tamils. But state sponsored indiscriminate violence also amounts to acts of terror. The one-sided view of history peddled by the Sri Lankan government and its High Commission in Australia needs to be re-assessed by the Australian government on behalf of all Tamils rotting in Australian detention facilities; and once re-assessed the Sri Lankan High Commission should be asked to cease its lobbying and special pleadings.
As the friends of Denisan and Antonet say: “Seeing the Australian public is paying for their permanent detention, we are entitled to know what they have done and if necessary see them charged in a court of law. As they have been observed 24 hours a day and all their communications accessible to ASIO and Serco over the years they have been in detention, there should be clear evidence by now against them, if ASIO adverse reports have any substance.”
The quality of mercy is not strain’d;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
In Australia in recent times it has become very strained.
What about showing Denisan and Antonet some. Let them have a life.
*Bruce Haigh is a political commentator and retired diplomat who worked in Sri Lanka and on the Refugee Review Tribunal
As I understand the civil war in Sri Lanka has finished, there should be no problem returning to the country. I’m sure there is no impediment to them returning, it is only their continued refusal to go back that is causing the problem. Every one of these refugee cases has a bleeding heart story, and we as a country are not responsible for solving everybody else’s problems. Send them home
So, not only do we have to accept into this country everyone who comes to our shores and QUALIFIES as a refugee, now we are being asked to accept all those who DON’T QUALIFY as well.
You refugee advocates are out of control – how the hell do any of you know why some people are not accepted as refugees. You are putting national security at stake, and I, for one, don’t accerpt that you have the right to do that.
As WB says – they all have a bleeding heart story….!
@CML
Perhaps you didn’t read the part of the article which states that both these people have been assessed as refugees?
@Whistleblower
Perhaps you didn’t read the part in the article about Sinhalese violence towards Tamils
“The Sri Lankan government is bent on retribution of the vanquished Tamils. It is a racist, vindictive and ugly campaign. It is bullying. Tamils living in Australia have been the subject of abusive emails and so have I. The reason Sri Lanka found itself embroiled in a civil war was the violence and bullying directed at Tamils.”
Gee, the standard of Australian education these days…
@ ZEKE – They may have been assessed as refugees, but if ASIO says there are security problems with either of them, that means they don’t qualify to be released into the community, fullstop. You can believe what you like, but I’ll stick with ASIO’s determinat
ion, thank you.
As for what the Sri Lankan Govt did or did not do to the Tamils? If you are relying on the stories from the Tamils, they were the losers, so they would say that, wouldn’t they.
As for my education – I have been a student of national and international politics for over 50 years. Just because I have a different opinion to yours, does not mean you are right
@CML
There’s a “security problem” that takes 9 years to resolve? You keep a person in an effective prison for NINE YEARS without even explaining why? Murderers get less of a sentence, they know how long their sentence is, and they’ve had a fair trial with legal representation. This man has had nothing but injustice from our government.
Fine, stick with the ASIO version. Everyone else seems to be OK with it.
I’m not only relying on the stories from the Tamils. They’ve been judged as refugees. Are you suggesting that the Australian government are also just “relying on the stories from the Tamils”?
As for your education. You were suggesting that the Sri Lankan couple weren’t assessed as refugees when the fact was stated clearly. I leave the readers to decide.