15 February 2017•Update: 17 February 2017
By Dilrukshi Handunnetti
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka
Sri Lankans seeking asylum in Australia should return home without fear of prosecution for illegal migration, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Wednesday.
According to a statement released by the prime minister’s office, refugees in camps on Nauru island and in Papua New Guinea “are welcome to return to Sri Lanka and we won’t prosecute them.”
He added: “Come back. All is forgiven. It is quite safe in Sri Lanka.”
Thousands of Tamils from northern Sri Lanka have fled the country since civil war erupted in 1983. The war ended in 2009 at an estimated cost of more than 100,000 lives.
The exodus sparked a wave of migration to Australia, much of it facilitated by unscrupulous people smugglers. Before 2013, Sri Lankans accounted for nearly a fifth of undocumented arrivals in Australia.
Wickremesinghe was speaking during a trip to Canberra, where he stressed Sri Lanka’s commitment to deter people smuggling.
