Navy apprehends 962 illegal immigrants this year

Ridma Dissanayake

The Navy has arrested 228 persons who were illegally heading for Australia during the first half of this month. With this the total number of illegal immigrants apprehended by the Navy during this year goes up to 962.

The Navy arrested 87 persons on August 16 and 17. Fifty seven among them were intercepted, 40 nautical miles off Pigeon Island in Trincomalee and other 30 were rescued in the deep seas,300 nautical miles South-East of Sri Lanka.

The trawler 'Pushpa Rejini' which was intercepted in Trincomalee had 39 men, eight women and 10 children (six boys and four girls). They are residents of Trincomalee, Jaffna, Batticaloa and Mannar.

Another 30 persons were rescued by the Sri Lanka Navy while stranded in the deep seas. They were safely brought to the Tangalle Harbour on Friday, were rescued after they were found drifting for a month at deep sea.

Among the rescued were 19 Tamils and 11 Sinhalese. All are residents of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Mannar, Chilaw and Negombo. The group had met with the harrowing experience when the multi-day trawler they were traveling had broken down at mid-sea due to a broken propeller approximately 300 nautical miles South-East of Sri Lanka.

The trawler 'Ashen Putha II' which left Negombo on July 18 with a group on board begun to drift after five days into its journey.

The Navy took immediate action on information received about the incident and another fishing trawler named "Shiran Putha" in the area also rendered assistance.

"Shiran Putha" readily volunteered to assist the Navy's rescue mission land disregarding the additional costs involved. The group was subsequently rescued by a fast naval patrol craft attached to the Southern Naval Command.

All on board the trawler were found in a highly dehydrated condition. They had run out of the scanty stock of provisions stacked inside the crowded trawler and had nothing to eat or drink for days. Naval personnel on board provided them with food, refreshments and emergency medical treatment.

"The incident is another instance which shows the risks involved in illegal migration. If not for SLN's timely action, 30 precious lives would have perished on the high seas.

"Therefore, the public are again reminded not to fall for traps laid by the unscrupulous human smugglers, who amass vast sums of money on false promises of lucrative employment opportunities and financial gains overseas. SLN, on humanitarian grounds, has rescued a number of victims from tragedies at sea in its Search and Rescue Region, using its assets and professional expertise for the SAR missions," Navy Media Spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya said. All of these arrested persons have been handed over to the CID for further investigations.