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Intelligence swap with Colombo raises rights fears
BY: PAUL MALEY From: The Australian December 18, 2012 12:00AM
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AUSTRALIA will share intelligence about people-smuggling with Sri Lanka in a significant - and controversial - expansion of the security relationship with Colombo.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced yesterday a "four-point plan" with Sri Lanka, aimed at cracking down on the booming people-smuggling trade now operating across the Indian Ocean.
Under the plan, Australia will boost the capacity of the Sri Lankan navy to disrupt smuggling ventures by training officials in maritime and air surveillance and identifying gaps in Colombo's capacity to stop boats.
A $700,000 information campaign will air across TV, radio and cinema advertising to deter would-be migrants, and Australia will spend $45 million in aid over five years to develop poorer areas.
But it is the expanded intelligence sharing arrangements that will prove to be the most controversial.
Australia will provide more surveillance and electronic equipment to the Sri Lankans in what Senator Carr described as a "clear agenda for intelligence sharing, naval co-operation and helping rebuild Sri Lanka".
Government sources said last night the focus would be on providing more information to the Sri Lankan government about people-smugglers - rather than their clients - and to boost the ability of local authorities to disrupt ventures.
Much of the information Australian security agencies gather about Sri Lankan people-smuggling syndicates derives from Sri Lankan boatpeople debriefed on Christmas Island.
It was not clear how much of that information would now be shared with Colombo.
Australia has traditionally been reluctant to share too much amid concerns over the Sri Lankan government's human rights record.
Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian
BY: PAUL MALEY From: The Australian December 18, 2012 12:00AM
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AUSTRALIA will share intelligence about people-smuggling with Sri Lanka in a significant - and controversial - expansion of the security relationship with Colombo.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced yesterday a "four-point plan" with Sri Lanka, aimed at cracking down on the booming people-smuggling trade now operating across the Indian Ocean.
Under the plan, Australia will boost the capacity of the Sri Lankan navy to disrupt smuggling ventures by training officials in maritime and air surveillance and identifying gaps in Colombo's capacity to stop boats.
A $700,000 information campaign will air across TV, radio and cinema advertising to deter would-be migrants, and Australia will spend $45 million in aid over five years to develop poorer areas.
But it is the expanded intelligence sharing arrangements that will prove to be the most controversial.
Australia will provide more surveillance and electronic equipment to the Sri Lankans in what Senator Carr described as a "clear agenda for intelligence sharing, naval co-operation and helping rebuild Sri Lanka".
Government sources said last night the focus would be on providing more information to the Sri Lankan government about people-smugglers - rather than their clients - and to boost the ability of local authorities to disrupt ventures.
Much of the information Australian security agencies gather about Sri Lankan people-smuggling syndicates derives from Sri Lankan boatpeople debriefed on Christmas Island.
It was not clear how much of that information would now be shared with Colombo.
Australia has traditionally been reluctant to share too much amid concerns over the Sri Lankan government's human rights record.
Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian
