Australia tackles refugee source

Anbarasan Ethirajan
BBC News

Refugee boats have become a big political issue in Australia

Sri Lanka and Australia have agreed to set up a joint mechanism to tackle the problem of people smuggling.

The agreement was signed in Colombo by the two countries' foreign ministers.

It comes amid a stand-off in Indonesia involving nearly 80 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers who are refusing to leave the Australian boat that intercepted them.

The Australian government says the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka has led to a surge in Tamil asylum-seekers arriving on its shores.

The growing number of asylum-seekers is becoming a political issue in Australia, with the government facing criticism for softening the immigration laws since it took office in 2007.

Reconciliation

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith met his counterpart, Rohitha Bogollagama, and other senior officials in Colombo to discuss ways of tackling people-smuggling.

Australia wants the Sri Lankan government to do more to control the flow of Tamil civilians leaving the island.

Mr Smith called on the Sri Lankan government to embrace political reforms and reconciliation as a way of securing lasting peace, following its defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels in May.

Mr Smith also urged the Colombo authorities to accelerate the resettlement of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians displaced by the war and now confined in government-run camps in the north.

The measures, Australia hopes, will reduce the number of Sri Lankans leaving the country.

But Sri Lankan officials say many of the asylum seekers are economic refugees who are trying to use the war as an excuse to seek a better life.