 |
The Australian government has signed off the deed for a second Australian Bay Class patrol boat to the Sri Lankan Navy on Tuesday, as part of its attempts to stem the flood of asylum seekers fleeing the island.
The controversial gift, the second of two boats, was signed off by the Australian High Commissioner Robyn Mudie when she met with the Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage.
Australia's decision to gift the boats to Sri Lanka has been roundly criticised, with the Greens leader Christine Milne calling it “collaboration and it is abhorrent” and Paul Power of the Refugee Council of Australia stating the government was “co-operating with a state with a very poor human rights record from which quite a number of people have fled and have been found to be in need of refugee protection”.
Commenting on the gift last year, Geoffrey Robertson QC said,
“Of course, the patrol boats will be used for the purposes of the Sri Lankan navy, whether it's shelling civilians or having fireworks displays when the judges are sacked.”
“Human rights violators can't be trusted not to violate human rights again and again.”