REFUGEE GROUPS CALL FOR SRI LANKA CRICKET BOYCOTT AND AN END TO DEPORTATIONS
Refugee supporters will join Tamil groups to protest outside
tomorrow’s SCG cricket match to call for a sporting boycott of the Sri
Lankan cricket team, and for Australia to welcome refugees fleeing
that country’s repressive regime.
Protesters will gather at 9.30am, Thursday 3 January, on Driver
Avenue, outside the main gates into the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Almost years after the end of the country’s civil war, when government
forces massacred over 40,000 Tamils, the regime of President Mahinda
Rajapaksa continues to commit vicious human rights abuses. The
repression of the country’s Tamil minority continues, with Tamil areas
in the north heavily militarised and Tamil farmers and fishers
continuing to be driven off their lands and away from their source of
income.
But dissent even among the majority Sinhalese population is also dealt
with brutally, with over 15,000 people disappearing in “white van
abductions” in the last three years, according to Amnesty
International. Those disappeared include journalists and political
opponents of the regime.
Yet the Australian government is helping to cover up these abuses by
cultivating Sri Lanka as a partner in its efforts to prevent Sri
Lankan refugees reaching Australia. It has also handed over more than
800 Sri Lankan asylum seekers to potential torture and death at the
hands of the regime since August. Under its new notorious “screening
out” procedures the Australian government has turned away hundreds of
Sri Lankan asylum boat arrivals after perfunctory interviews.
“Foreign Minister Bob Carr’s visit to Sri Lanka just a few weeks ago
was a disgraceful indication of the Australian government’s support
for a regime that is guilty of serious human rights abuses in Sri
Lanka”, said Nick Riemer, spokesperson for the Refugee Action
Coalition.
“Carr promised more Australian assistance for the Sri Lankan navy and
security forces to stop those fleeing persecution. The Labor
government has turned a blind eye to regime’s history of kidnapping,
torture and murder of its opponents. Gillard and Bowen know that
asylum seekers being returned to Sri Lanka are being jailed and
tortured but will not lift a finger to do anything about it
“The Rajapaksa regime is a ruthless dictatorship that deserves to be
isolated by the international community. Australia’s support for the
Rajapaksa regime makes a joke of Australia’s seat on the UN security
council,” said Nick Riemer.
“As with the South African apartheid regime, Sri Lanka deserves a
boycott of cricket tours and other sporting teams.
“Sri Lanka President Rajapaksa uses the country’s cricket team to
promote his dictatorial regime, being constantly photographed with the
players and naming Colombo’s new cricket stadium after himself.
“We are calling on the Australian government to stop aiding this
dictatorship in its persecution of the Tamils and crackdown on
political dissent by immediately putting an end to forced deportations
to Sri Lanka, and welcoming refugees fleeing persecution at the hands
of the regime.
“We are also calling on all cricket lovers who care about human rights
to join us in boycotting the Sri Lankan team during its visit to
Australia.”
Further demonstrations are planned for matches later in January.
For more information contact Nick Riemer 0435 533 027 or Mark Goudkamp
0422 078 376
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