Several officials from the Australian government met with the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lankan Navy this week, where they discussed measures to be taken to prevent the trafficking of refugees fleeing the island.
Geoffrey Shaw, Ambassador for People Smuggling and Human Trafficking for Australia met with Rear Admiral Neil Rosayro at the Naval Headquarters in Colombo.
The meeting comes as Australia faces criticism for its planned deportation of a former LTTE cadre to Sri Lanka, despite the UN committee against torture issuing an interim measure request last year, formally asking that Australia “refrain from returning [Shantaruban] to the Republic of Sri Lanka while his complaint is under consideration”.
Several other senior Australian officials, including the Defence Attaché of the Australian High Commission in Sri Lanka were also present at the meeting.
Last year, Australia and Sri Lanka signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at increasing cooperation between the two countries on smuggling operations.
