Australia’s High Commissioner to Colombo, David Holly, met with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister G.L. Peris on Wednesday to discuss bilateral relations despite concerns over Sri Lanka’s dire human rights record.

On Twitter, the High Commissioner stated:

Great to join new Foreign Minister Prof GL Peiris to discuss cooperation between and , including on COVID-19 response, education, reconciliation and maritime & environmental security. There's much we can achieve together as #IndianOcean neighbours. https://t.co/gvR5WjQ6rS

— Australia in Sri Lanka and Maldives (@AusHCSriLanka) August 26, 2021

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry further noted that discussions touched on “the importance of close collaboration in the maritime field, including in the prevention of future maritime disasters and cooperation in international & regional forums on issues of shared interest”.

Foreign Secretary, and accused war criminal, Jayanath Colombage were present at the meeting which agreed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Australia in 2022.

Aiding Sri Lanka’s abusive law enforcement

Earlier this year, the Australian government-supplied Sri Lankan police with five aerial drones despite supporting a United Nations resolution just months before, which warned of the deteriorating human rights situation on the island.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has since published a damning report of police abuses in Sri Lanka which documents arbitrary detentions, torture, and extrajudicial killings. HRW has called on the international community to cease engagement with “abusive Sri Lankan law enforcement” warning that “assistance risks appearing to endorse or lend legitimacy to agencies that are unwilling to improve their respect for human rights”.

Draconian immigration rules

Writing in the Red Flag, Ben Hiller highlights that successive Australian governments have adopted draconian immigration policies in response to the arrival of Tamil refugees. Between 2009 and 2013, over 4,000 Tamil refugees sought asylum in Australia but in 2012 the Labour government instituted “enhanced screening” to make it more difficult for them to gain protection”. The following Liberal administration made the situation worse under "Operation Sovereign Borders” with boats being intercepted at sea and asylum seekers handed over to the authorities from which they had fled in the first place.

Sri Lanka’s Former Prime Minister claimed that Australia’s silence on Sri Lanka’s appalling human rights record “was the price it paid to secure co-operation from the former Rajapaksa government on stopping asylum-seeker boats”. This claim was supported by Australia’s former Prime Minister, Tony Abbot who noted:

“I’m sure that the Sri Lankan president was pleased that Australia didn’t join the human rights lobby against the tough but probably unavoidable actions taken to end one of the world’s most vicious civil wars […] Certainly, both countries became even stronger partners in the Abbott government’s most urgent initial task: to end the people-smuggling trade.”

Australia’s continued draconian immigration policy persists despite growing recognition of the threats of torture and abuse that Tamil asylum seekers face when forcibly returned. In a landmark court ruling in the UK, the British Upper Tribunal noted that peaceful Tamil activists faced the threat of torture if returned to Sri Lanka, which it defined as an “authoritarian state”.

Read more here.