The prime minister sent a stern warning to human traffickers after being asked about the message he wanted to send through Home Secretary Claire O’Neill, who had come to Sri Lanka to speak about the concerns of asylum seekers. .
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insisted his government’s policy on asylum seekers was “very clear” after human traffickers claimed a refugee woman would not be repatriated under the Labor Party if she made the dangerous journey.
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Asylum-seeker Mino Mikala, who was returned to Sri Lanka after being intercepted on a ship bound for Australia, said she had been promised that the “refugee-friendly” Albanian government would welcome them with open arms.
She described to The Australian newspaper that it had been an “arduous journey” that she had to embark on and stressed that she would not have taken the deal had she known the outcome.
A journalist questioned Albanese on Monday about the message he wants to send to people smugglers and asylum seekers in Australia through Home Secretary Claire O’Neill, who has landed in Sri Lanka in the midst of its economic crisis. .
“People arriving by boat will not settle here,” he said in Melbourne alongside Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews to announce the start of construction of the new $152 million government-funded melanoma and clinical trials centre. Dollars.
“It is very clear that our system is in place of Operation Sovereign Borders.”
“Human traffickers seek to trade misery and seek to deceive, often led by criminal gangs, so it is misleading to act in this way.”
He stressed that his government would be “strong on the borders without being weak on humanity.”
“We will do what Australia has done for a long period of time. We will fulfill our international obligation to do the right thing,” the prime minister said.
“But the right thing is not free for all, as people who attend will be settled, and we understand that there are problems in Sri Lanka and human traffickers send the wrong messages.”
Ms. O’Neill is expected to speak with Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his counterpart, JL Peiris, to discuss the humanitarian and economic crisis in their country.
The interior and foreign ministers spoke by phone last week when the Sri Lankan parliamentarian extended an invitation to visit the South Asian island.
Over the weekend, Wickremesinghe asked the Australian government for help, such as medicine, food and even fertilizer, after the country ran out of foreign exchange reserves, sparking riots and protests.
Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan has urged Albanese to visit Sri Lanka to address the country’s humanitarian crisis in hopes of reducing the number of asylum seekers making the dangerous journey to Australia.
Tehan told Sky News Australia that he was not surprised by the words of human traffickers who “do and say anything” to get money to finance their “evil trade”.
He suggested that Mr. Albanese stop by Sri Lanka on his way to Europe to attend the NATO Security Summit after the nation’s leader asked Australia for help.
“In fact, reading the newspaper on Sunday, it seems that the Albanese prime minister is going to Europe; well, he’s going to fly over Sri Lanka, so he should stop and talk to the government and give them the help they need to help with humanitarian aid.” crisis they face,” he told Peter Stefanovic. «.
The former trade and tourism minister said Australians did not want to see a return to the horrific images of overturned boats and the bodies of refugees floating in the ocean.
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