Sri Lankan navy arrests 97 illegal immigrants

The Sri Lankan navy on Wednesday arrested 97 Australia-bound illegal immigrants in Oluvil in the eastern province.Navy Spokesman Kosala Warnakulasuriya said that among those arrested are 40 children and 18 women.He said that all of those arrested were minority Tamils and they were brought to the Oluvil harbor to be handed over to the police for further investigations.Thousands of Sri Lankans had been arrested both during and after the war while attempting to flee to Australia by boat.Most asylum seekers allege harassment in Sri Lanka as a result of the war between the Tamil Tigers and army which ended in 2009.However, the Sri Lankan government insists that they are economic migrants and discourages any attempt in Australia to offer them asylum.The Australian media meanwhile recently alleged that the navy is a major player in the island\'s people-smuggling operations, helping asylum seekers to leave the country in boats bound for Australia. The navy however denied the claims.Last year the Sri Lankan navy prevented over 3,000 asylum seekers sailing to Australia although the report claims that another 6,428 made it to Australia.During a visit to Sri Lanka recently, Australian Foreign Minister Senator Bob Carr promised financial aid over the next five years to assist Sri Lanka to boost the fight against people smuggling on boats from the island nation to Australia.Under a plan announced by the foreign minister, Australia will provide Sri Lanka with additional surveillance and electronic equipment to expand the island\'s capacity to target smuggling operations and better identify vessel departure times and locations.