Category Archives: asylum-seekers

Mangala’s Show at Geneva in 2017 lauded by Dharisha Bastians

As the annual witch-hunt mounted by the UNHRC in its role as an arm of the Western world’s foreign policy approaches in March 2020, it is worthwhile reflecting on the ‘triumphant’ public performances in Geneva orchestrated by the Yahapaalana government and one of its driving forces, namely, Mangala Samaraweera — as presented by one of his proteges, Dharisha Bastians….. Editor, Thuppahi.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera heading the Sri Lankan Government delegation to the UNHRC’s 34th Session addressing a side event at the Palais des Nations last week. The event was organised by the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva and chaired by Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha. Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms Mano Tittawella, MP and Constitutional expert Dr. Jayampathy Wickremaratne and Ariyasinha are also present – Pic by Sunanda Deshapriya

BASTIANS:  Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s masterful diplomacy is winning over a world eager to keep believing in Sri Lanka’s political transformation story, but the Government faces a deepening disconnect with activists and war-affected constituents at home who are losing faith in its promises to heal the wounds of a long and violent conflict.

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Switzerland Surrenders …. While the Machinations of a Cabal appear in the Deep Seas

Political Editor of the Sunday Times, 5 January 2019, where the title runs  “UNP leadership: Parliamentary group to decide next week”

Switzerland has publicly expressed regrets for challenging Sri Lankan “authorities’ commitment to due process” and for calling that “into question” over the saga involving an embattled staffer at the embassy in Colombo. Their about turn, embarrassingly coming down a few notches, was spelt out in an official Third Person Note (TPN) Bern sent on December 30, 2019 to the Ministry of Foreign Relations. This was after diplomatic consultations got under way with a special envoy to ease tensions between the two countries. The note was released both in Colombo and Bern simultaneously.

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Garnier aka Xavier enveloped in Swiss Arms & Alms

Garnier Banister Francis, nee Xavier, has her Face blown …. and is juxtaposed here beside her saviour, The Swiss Embassy.
Apey Ath yatathay …

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The LTTE and Its “Treasury” in Switzerland in Its Halcyon Days

DBS Jeyaraj, in his website column 15 December 2019, with this title “The Switzerland Connection in LTTE Fund Raising Activity”

Recent events have focused the media spotlight on the Federal Republic of Switzerland known officially as the Swiss Confederation. The landlocked European nation is respected highly on a global scale due to its policy of armed neutrality. Despite the impeccable credentials of Switzerland, the country is being viewed negatively by influential sections of the Sri Lankan people. There is suspicion that an orchestrated campaign is being pursued by certain elements to depict the country as an “enemy” of Sri  Lanka. Three recent happenings concerning Switzerland–Sri Lanka relations have contributed to this unfortunate state of affairs.

Tamil rally in Geneva, summer 2003

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Gerald Peiris’s Review in 2014 of the Literature on the Death Counts during the Final Stage of Eelam War IV

  Gerald H Peiris, presenting a review article in February 2014, which is pertinent to claims TODAY. The original title runs asEncountering ‘Death Counts’ in the Final Phase of the Eelam War” …. and appeared in both http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=97232 …. And also at https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/encountering-death-counts-in-the-final-phase-of-the-eelam-war/ …. where it drew 77 comments with the last violent chauvinist ‘gunshot’ being on 17th February 2014 (see below)

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Send them to Lanka? Aussie Opinion Poll on the Nadesalingam Murugappan Case

Geoff Chambers in The Australian, 10 September 2019, where the heading runs Most back kicking out asylum-seekers who aren’t refugees”

Most Australians believe that asylum-seekers deemed not to be genuine refugees should be deported regardless of other considerations. A Newspoll survey conducted last week showed 64 per cent of voters believe asylum-seekers who are considered by the courts to not be refugees should be deported, with 24 per cent saying they should be allowed to settle in Australia.

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A Testing Issue: The Nadesalingam Murugappan Asylum Claim

ONE = Simon Benson & Rosie Lewis, in The Australian, 4 September 2019, where the title runs “Tamil asylum case sets path for 6000 others”

Scott Morrison has vowed to send home more than 6000 illegal immigrants who have had their refugee claims rejected, as he brushed off Labor attempts to drag his religious faith into the debate over the deportation of a Sri Lankan family. The Australian revealed on Wednesday that those 6000 asylum-seekers are engaged in similar legal ­appeals to that of the Tamil family who will learn today whether their ­eleventh-hour Federal Court bid to prevent their ­deportation has succeeded.

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A Sob Story? Hodge in Batticaloa batting for the Nadeshalingam Family

Amanda Hodge in The Weekend Australian, 7/8th September 2019, where the title is “Mum’s fears for asylum son tainted by time with Tamil Tigers”

On the scuffed green walls of Nadeshalingam Murugappan’s family home in eastern Sri Lanka, a maxim written in English — a language none of the occupants can read — hangs above the television in a room full of anxious ­relatives. It says: “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” Whether “Nades” and his wife Kokilapathmapriya “Priya” Nadarasa end up back in the rural Sri Lankan district of Batticaloa they fled separately years ago — this time with two Australian-born daughters in tow — could be decided before the end of the month.

Nadeshalingam ‘Nades’ Murugappan’s mother Alakamma in the family’s village home in Batticaloa district, Sri Lanka. Picture: Benislos Thushan

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Nadesalingam Family in Heated Asylum-Seeker Controversy

Tracey Ferrier, in AAP News Item,  3 September 2019, entitled “Peter Dutton lashes out at Tamil parents for “dragging” kids through court appeals”

A Tamil couple has unfairly “dragged” their two young children through drawn-out court appeals in an ill-fated bid to stay in Australia, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says. Mr Dutton has rounded on the couple, saying the reason they’ve been in Australia for so long is because they have refused to accept rulings that they are not genuine refugees. He said “excessive” appeals had kept them here and now they were complaining about having to leave the life they established in the Queensland town of Biloela.

Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton says the Tamil couple has unfairly dragged their two young children through drawn-out court appeals. Picture: AAP Image/Mark JesserMinister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton says the Tamil couple has unfairly dragged their two young children through drawn-out court appeals. Picture: AAP Image/Mark JesserSource:AAP

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UN Aid Workers in the Crucible of War, 1989-92: William Clarance’s Fascinating Account

Michael Roberts, in SOUTH ASIA¸ Sept 2008, 31: 394-96 reviewing Ethnic Warfare in Sri Lanka and the UN Crisis (London: Pluto Press, and Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2007), 296 pp.

This is an unusual book and essential reading for those interested in the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. William Clarance was head of UNHCR’s relief mission in Sri Lanka from 1989 to 1992. He kept a diary and has waited until he had left the arena of international administration before recounting his riveting experiences in the field. 

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