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Australia ignores Sri Lanka war crimes in return for cooperation

Monday, 23 February 2015 9:10 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 23 February 2015 9:09 AM ]

Australia has always been the destination of boats loaded with people seeking asylum. Now Sri Lanka says Canberra has agreed to tone down criticisms over its rights abuses in exchange for cooperation on asylum seekers.

Accordion to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesing, former president Mahinda Rajapaksa reached a deal with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott last year. Based on the deal, Canberra stopped criticizing rights abuses in Sri Lanka especially in the case of the crackdown on the Tamil minority. In exchange, Colombo stepped up its naval interception and prevented boats from making their journey towards Australia. It also accepted the asylum seekers who’d been forced to return by the Australian navy. Australia has adopted tough immigration policies in recent years by sending asylum seekers to detention camps in Papua New Guinea.

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