Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

17 June 2021

 

 

LTTE – ASSET TO QUAD?

 

The Murugappan family has become a political issue here in Australia. It needs to be raised to governance level, for it to be of value to Australia as well as Sri Lanka. Basic facts of the matter are presented by Wikipedia as follows:

[Priya and Nades were both living in Sri Lanka during the Sri Lankan Civil War which started in 1983 and formally ended in 2009 with the Sri Lankan Army defeating the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Nades claimed to have been forced to join the LTTE in 2001 and as a result, claimed to be harassed by Sri Lankan government authorities. The Australian government claims that Nades was able to freely travel to Kuwait and Qatar with a Sri Lankan government issued passport from Sri Lanka on at least three separate occasions on temporary work visas to travel to Qatar and Kuwait for work between 2004 and 2010, and therefore was not of concern to Sri Lankan authorities….

Nades arrived at Christmas Island on a people smuggler boat in 2012. Priya left Sri Lanka in 2001 and went to Tamil Nadu, India, claiming she was being targeted due to her brother's supposed links to the LTTE. She arrived at Cocos Islands on another people smuggler boat in 2013 from Tamil Nadu, India, a safe haven for Tamil people fleeing Sri Lanka during the civil war that was unaffected by the civil war.]

 

At policy level – the experts differ in their assessments. As per Wikipedia:

 

The Academic:

[Damien Kingsbury, an academic specialising in international politics, stated even though the civil war had ended Sri Lanka was still dangerous for some minorities, stating "The environment is changing and it's never been particularly favourable to Tamils but it looks like it's changing back to a more draconian environment". ]

The Lawyer

[Another immigration lawyer, Simon Jeans, claimed that the family had not been truthful in visa applications and said evidence suggested they came to Australia as economic refugees]

The Administration

[The Immigration Assessment Authority stated that years had passed since the civil war and "the risk profile of persons of adverse interest had changed". The Sri Lankan government was now inquiring after a different category of persons in the post-war and reconciliation period, described as "those with a significant role in post-conflict Tamil separatism". It was stated that the applicant Priya did not fall within this category of persons]

Australian Prime Minister

 Prime Minister Scott Morrison refused calls to intervene, stating "they didn't come to the country in the appropriate way. They have not been found to have an asylum claim" and "to exercise intervention powers on this would be to send exactly the wrong message to those who are looking to sell tickets to vulnerable people looking to get on boats ..." Morrison stated that the family remain eligible to lodge an application to migrate to Australia; "they can make an application to come to Australia under the same processes as everyone else, anywhere else in the world. And I would hope they do."

Global  Tamil Community

Tamil TV presenter Kuna Kaviyalahan refers to post war approach as being Sithantham / Ideology based. - தேடி வருகிறது அழகிய நகரம் 100/beautify 100 City/SL cabinet /Gotabaya /kuna kaviyalahan - YouTube

To majority Tamils, this is an ideology issue and not that of an individual. To be successful – the applicants need to be bound by the group that they would be part of. This obviously is the Australian Tamil community of Sri Lankan origin. This community needs to feel for those who have stayed on in their home areas in Sri Lanka, as well as be part of the Global Governance Values. The former is experience based and the latter is largely policy based. One without the other does not entitle the community to Global Opportunities.

Recently Tamil Diaspora leader Mr Rajan Vinasithamby discussed the shortage of entrants to Universities, including on quota basis, from Northern Sri Lanka. https://youtu.be/1g_FjczZf-g. Mr Rajan Vinasithamby suggested many improvements – based on his UK experience. This is the parallel of the reasoning by the ‘Lawyer’ in the above immigration matter. The lawyer was measuring through answers to questions by Australian mind. The interpretation would be based on the lawyer’s own measure to ‘win’ and this need not necessarily be the truth as per Asylum-seeker laws.

Consciously of otherwise,  Prime Minister Scott Morrison indicates what needs to be done:

[Morrison stated that the family remain eligible to lodge an application to migrate to Australia; "they can make an application to come to Australia under the same processes as everyone else, anywhere else in the world. And I would hope they do]

The truth in that policy statement would be known to a believer. It is that belief that has exponential power that would work the global system and/or ancestral system.

The apparent blocks in the lawful pathway are (1) the husband’s affiliation with the LTTE and (2) the wife’s acceptance by India. At individual experience level they would both be true. But to most in the applicants’ shoes – it happened to them because they were Tamils. At global level – to the extent the Tamil community was adversely affected by global level proscription of the LTTE – any member who seeks asylum due to war – is entitled to global level application of the law. This is covered by the discovery that the risk category is "those with a significant role in post-conflict Tamil separatism"

Now that this government is China’s Opposition at global level, LTTE mind – trained by India would be an advantage to Australia. As per It is Australia's leading think tank, the Lowy Institute report:

[The small, remote Mauritian island of North Agalega, located in the south-western Indian Ocean, 1,122 kilometres north of Mauritius, is currently a hive of construction activity. India sought access to the islands in 2015 to develop as an air and naval staging point for surveillance of the south-west Indian Ocean – in a sense redolent of facilities other nations operate, such as the joint US-UK base at Diego Garcia.

Satellite imagery shows major airfield and port developments are well underway, reportedly worth some US$87 million. Comparing the most recent images from Google Earth to the same location as seen in 2014 shows a new 3000-metre runway – capable of hosting the Indian Navy’s new Boeing P-8I maritime patrol aircraft – and considerable apron overshadows the existing airfield in the middle of the island……

In recent years, India has sought to further develop its military access to the south-west Indian Ocean and Mozambique Channel by building a new naval and air facility on Seychelles’ remote Assumption Island. In 2015, Modi signed an agreement with the Seychelles President to develop Assumption Island for military use. But the deal generated considerable political opposition in the Seychelles. A revised deal was signed in 2018, but the recently elected Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan has canned the project over sovereignty and environmental concerns. These developments will only bolster India’s resolve to militarise Agalega.]

As per Argus report:

[Australia, India and Japan make up three of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) forum members, together with the US. The Quad group, which was originally formed in 2007 and reinvigorated in 2017, has been pushed by the administrations of US presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden as a democratic counterweight to China's growing regional power.]

While these structures may be in place, we need Humans to work these structures – physically and / or mentally. This is where groups such as the LTTE become assets to governments in need of clever fighters. By living in Indian Ocean’s Christmas Island, refugees would feel connected to  Agalega by the Indian Ocean. These are natural formations that work for anyone who is true to her/his part.

At policy level, those who are victims of the Sri Lankan war – would be assets to Australia in its opposition against China. They have already been trained by India and this is an added advantage. We need to catch them before China does.

Such power is the value of Quota system to enter University. We need to lose merit to become masters in the quota system.