M K Ananth. Palk Bay comprises a semi-enclosed shallow water body between India and Sri Lanka. The 18 nautical miles distance is rocky with shallow waters — not ideal for fishing. In the past, at the time of Sri Lankan civil war, access to Sri Lankan waters was easy and the Tamil Nadu coast saw a proliferation of fishing trawlers which would head towards international waters for a good catch.
That changed in , when the civil war ended. Arrests and attacks on Indian fishermen increased when they entered Lankan waters — the fight this time was over depletion of marine resources. Sri Lanka has maintained that trawlers used by the Indian fishermen damage the fragile ecosystem of the sea and affect marine life. Overtime, Sri Lanka has become more strict about how it treats the incursions. Attacks were followed by boats being impounded and hefty fines charged to release them — making it practically impossible for smaller fishermen to get back their boats.
More recently, in November , a Sri Lankan court permitted officials to destroy Indian mechanised fishing boats seized in the last years for allegedly crossing into the island nation territory. Though two agreements signed in and between the two countries allows Indian fishermen to fish in Sri Lankan waters, the government so far has only condemned the incidents, a resolution is not in sight.
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Daily prices of petrol and diesel are supposed to be decided by the market. Yet, relief from rising fuel prices comes before polls from the government. Tamizhini says the local agent to whom she paid money is still in Jaffna but she is too afraid to seek help from police based there. Many Sri Lankan Tamils who escaped from government refugee camps set up during the final months of the war had no option but to leave the country.
Many of them paid huge sums to do so. Often families sold their jewels or mortgaged their houses to pay for the journey. The authorities recently foiled at least two attempts to smuggle people to Australia and the Seychelles.
Police say they are keen to help the families of those who are missing. During late and early , two separate shiploads of about Sri Lankan Tamils in all even reached Canada. Their claims for political asylum are now being processed. In February it emerged that Sri Lankan Tamil refugees were living in desperate conditions in the west African state of Togo.
Usually, however, Sri Lankan Tamils try to head for Australia. Australia PM cancels Indonesia visit. Australia navy captains disciplined. PNG asylum death 'great tragedy'. Image source, Getty Images. Australia says it is trying to deter asylum seekers from making dangerous sea voyages. The plight of refugees is a contentious issue in Australia. Related Topics. Refugees and asylum seekers Sri Lanka Australia. In a statement, the TRC detailed a harrowing account of the voyage, where it was alleged that fathers could only see their children once every three of four days aboard the Australian customs vessel where they were detained, and that basic provisions, including food and clothing, were not adequately provided.
The asylum seeker reportedly told the TRC that the nine men briefed with piloting the boats were told three days after the Australian government gave an undertaking to the high court not to transfer the asylum seekers in to Sri Lanka without 72 hours written notice.
They pointed at a city in south India called Kanyakumari. They said that any moment you will be put on the boats and you must be very careful driving them. We were all very scared.
We refused to eat after that. When the children cried out for milk, the officers would come and lock the door and give them nothing. The children were always crying out for food. They would cry throughout the night.
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