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.
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