Australia announced on Monday that it would provide $50 million in development assistance for urgent food and health care in Sri Lanka,which was reeling from soaring prices and acute shortages of food,petrol,medicine and other essentials.
The pledge came as Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil flew to the capital Colombo for meetings with Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa,Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister GL Peiris about combatting people smuggling. She said Australia was ready to also expand assistance on border protection and in intelligence sharing following a request from Sri Lanka.
“Here in Sri Lanka I have a very simple message:if you attempt to enter Australia by boat you will be immediately sent back. Australia’s border protection policies have not changed,” O’Neil said.
The Sri Lankan navy already used two of Australia’s retired patrol boats that it gave the South Asian nation when Operation Sovereign Borders came into force under Tony Abbott in 2013 and the two countries shared information on such maritime activities.
But with people smugglers in Sri Lanka trying to capitalise on its financial collapse and the change of government in Australia – using the election of Anthony Albanese and Labor as a sales pitch – authorities are facing a fresh challenge to stand in their way.
Passengers on boats captured in the past month had reported being told by smugglers that “they could use the political situation[in Australia] to their advantage”,according to Sri Lanka Navy spokesman Captain Indika De Silva.