Troubled Waters: Corruption and Human Trafficking in Post-war Sri LankaFrom an Interviewee
During its interviews with one community member in Trincomalee, TSA was able to obtain the following additional information. Please note that these are all direct quotations:
“The Navy are taking people to a place called Salli in Trincomalee.” “The Navy has been helping direct boats to international waters.” “One of the people will be trained to operate the boat. To me it makes sense to get an ex-combatant to do it.” “You have to contact a person from Trincomalee to make all the arrangements; they’re the ones who know how to arrange the logistics.” “With the Navy’s assistance, they’re reaching international waters and then they get on a different ship.” “Nobody knows whether you’ll be arrested, or reach your destination or come back to Sri Lanka.” “They won’t even tell you how many days it takes to reach your destination.” “Right now, you cannot really see young men in Puttulam, Chilaw or Udappu. Most have gone away.” “The Navy is sending people out to tackle terrorism; that’s why this is happening. The irony here is, when we reach Australia, we are registering as terrorists. The only way you’ll get asylum in Australia is by saying that you are an ex-combatant.” “The traffickers are removing the names of those leaving from voter lists. I just know it. They’re losing their right to vote. People know that this is happening.” “Approximately 13,000 people have left since this operation started. Out of that, 3,000 are from Trincomalee. Almost all are Tamils.”
