Sri Lanka arrests 67 suspected to be heading to Australia
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s navy said Tuesday that it has arrested 67 people who it believes were trying to travel by sea to Australia illegally.
The navy said in a statement that 12 men were arrested first near the port town of Trincomalee, 260 kilometers (160 miles) northeast of the capital Colombo on Monday and, upon questioning them, intercepted 55 more people traveling in a fishing vessel. It said the persons were aged between 3 and 53, and that five of them are suspected be part of a human smuggling ring.
Navy spokesperson Indika de Silva said while their destination is still not clear it is suspected that they were headed to Australia.
Police were still determining the motivation for the illegal voyage, de Silva said, but Sri Lankans over the years have traveled to Australia and other developed nations illegally for economic and political reasons.
Australian media reported Tuesday that officials sent 15 people back to Sri Lanka on Saturday after they were found traveling in a boat near Christmas Island.
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis in recent memory facing heavy shortages of essentials from food, cooking gas, medicine and fuel to toilet paper and matchsticks. People have been forced to stay in long lines to buy their essentials over the past few months with many of them returning empty-handed.
The island nation has defaulted on foreign debt for the first time after announcing last month it would suspend payments on $7 billion in foreign debt due this year, with nearly $25 billion due by 2026 out of a total of $51 billion.
The country’s new prime minister said last week that petrol stocks ran down to a final day, worsening commuting problems and lengthening lines. But shipments of gasoline paid through an Indian credit line started...
