Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I wish to update the House on the situation in Sri Lanka, in particular the situation confronting internally displaced people, the need for their resettlement, and the need for political reconciliation. Australia recognises and acknowledges the profound sufferings of the past in Sri Lanka, including the very many civilian casualties caused by decades of war. In the face of the longstanding, terrible costs of war, it is often hard to look to the future.

While acknowledging past suffering, today I outline how Australia will continue to assist the Sri Lankan people in the rebuilding of their country. As members might recall, I presented an earlier ministerial statement to the House on Sri Lanka on 12 May. At that time, I said that a military victory by the Sri Lankan government was imminent, irrevocably changing the situation on the ground after decades of conflict. That military victory came to pass on 18 May, some four months ago.

Australia welcomed the end of this decades-long conflict. It cost tens of thousands lives, uprooted hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans, and left an economic divide between north and south, east and west. No Sri Lankan has been untouched by the conflict. Australia has consistently stated that the solution to the conflict was never going to be by military means alone. The time is here for the Sri Lankan government to win the peace and to forge an enduring political settlement for all Sri Lankans. This will require political reform and rapprochement between all parties and communities.

Sri Lanka faces the tremendous task of resettling hundreds of thousands of displaced citizens. This process has started, but since the fighting stopped four months ago at least 250,000 people remain in camps for internally displaced people. Civilians in northern Sri Lanka have lived under difficult conditions for many years and suffered greatly, especially in the last months of the conflict. It is now vital to move quickly, more quickly than has been the case to this point, to create the conditions for them to rebuild their lives.

Australia and the international community continue to watch closely to see how the Sri Lankan authorities treat people in camps for internally displaced people; how they manage their resettlement; and how they institute political reform and reconciliation. Success in these areas is vital to the Sri Lankan government creating a peaceful, stable and prosperous future for Sri Lanka and all of its people. I have spoken directly to Sri Lanka’s president and, on a number of occasions, to Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, about these matters. Australian officials at the Australian High Commission in Colombo will also continue to make the same points. I have also outlined Australia’s views on Sri Lanka in discussions with the United Nations and with my foreign ministerial counterparts, including those representing the Tokyo Co-Chairs, the United States, the European Union, Norway and Japan.

Australia has consistently stated both during the conflict and since that the welfare and protection of civilians must be the absolute priority. Australia will continue to respond to the humanitarian challenges facing Sri Lanka through our aid program, especially the needs of internally displaced people and their resettlement. Last financial year, 2008-09, Australia devoted $24.5 million to meet humanitarian needs in Sri Lanka. Australian aid was delivered through international humanitarian organisations, such as the World Food Program, UNICEF, the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as Australian NGOs working on the ground in Sri Lanka. Through this assistance Australia has provided:

• shelter, water, sanitation, health and nutrition for internally displaced people
• security and coordination for relief efforts
• social and educational services for children adversely affected by conflict, and
• trauma support, particularly for mothers and children.

This financial year, 2009-10, Australia will provide more than $35 million in development assistance to Sri Lanka. Supporting resettlement is a major focus for the coming months. Yesterday I said publicly that recently I had approved $2 million to support the resettlement of displaced people in Sri Lanka. Today I announce a further $3 million for this vital work. This assistance will be delivered through international organisations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration. This funding will include assistance for continuing the process of documenting internally displaced people to facilitate their return, their assistance with essential items, including food and water for travel and reintegration, and assistance to families hosting displaced people.

Australia welcomes the Sri Lankan government’s commitment to resettling over 80 per cent of civilians from camps for internally displaced people by the end of 2009, and looks forward to the resettlement of all civilians as soon as possible. Freedom of movement for the civilians in the north is essential. The start of the monsoon season this month has increased the urgency for voluntary resettlement and other solutions that provide freedom of movement. Australia’s call applies especially to children, the sick and the elderly, but it extends to all those citizens of Sri Lanka currently in the camps for internally displaced people.

Australian officials visited the camps in Sri Lanka late last month with the aim of identifying priority needs for Australian aid. Our next steps will focus on support for release and resettlement of internally displaced people. As well, a prerequisite for the revival of northern Sri Lanka is the de-mining of former conflict areas. It is the case that the de-mining challenge will affect the resettlement of displaced people from the camps. That is why in June, Australia provided over $1 million to non-government organisations for de-mining and why we responded in August to a further request by the government of Sri Lanka by providing a further $1 million through the International Organisation for Migration for de-mining efforts.

The voluntary resettlement process requires full access by international humanitarian agencies to areas of return and to information to ensure effective coordination. Australia has consistently called upon the Sri Lankan government to ensure that such access is afforded and information provided. It is important that the Sri Lankan government, United Nations agencies and other NGOs work together in a constructive partnership to address these challenges.

Members will have seen reports about an Australian UNICEF official, Mr James Elder. I have looked at Mr Elder’s reported remarks and they do not cause me any difficulty. Indeed, he has been making the point, as has the Australian government, that we need to see unimpeded access by international agencies to the camps for internally displaced people. I take this opportunity to commend the work of UNICEF, with which Australia works closely and which does vitally important work in Sri Lanka and around the world.

Australian resettlement assistance is focused not only in north-east Sri Lanka. In north-west Sri Lanka, where the conflict ended in 2008, Australia has helped to resettle internally displaced people by funding the construction of housing and providing support for basic services and the revival of income generating activities. Our aid in the coming year to Sri Lanka will also support development across the country. We will deliver aid to help communities to recover from the adverse effects of conflict and to lead safe and productive lives, including peace-building, basic education and natural resource management.

Earlier today in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, I met about 20 representatives of the Australian Tamil community from across the country. I hope this process of dialogue will continue between members of the Sri Lankan diaspora and Australian officials. I outlined to them the steps that the Australian government is taking—both in terms of advocacy and of practical assistance—to help Sri Lanka and its citizens. I recognised the suffering that many among that group have experienced and the depth of concern they feel for members of their community in Sri Lanka, particularly those still in camps for internally displaced people.

Some community members advised of their view of the need to address war crimes that were allegedly conducted by both sides during the conflict. I responded that, in the interests of reconciliation, it was important that allegations of human rights abuses be dealt with through a credible and independent process. It was clear to me, from our positive and productive discussion, the important role that diaspora groups will play in Sri Lanka’s future. I encourage all members of the diaspora to look for ways to engage constructively to promote the well-being and future prosperity of all Sri Lankans.

Reconciliation will take time and will require sustained effort by Sri Lanka, its diaspora and the international community to overcome the grief, resentment and anger, and the lack of confidence and trust that is the inevitable consequence of decades of armed conflict.

Australia’s belief is that Sri Lankan democracy, rule of law and security would be enhanced by a stronger civil society and an independent and free media. The Sri Lankan government must seize the opportunity to promote the political freedoms that enable all citizens to have a stake in Sri Lanka’s success.

Australia’s historic links to Sri Lanka provide the potential for greater bilateral engagement, including through increased trade and investment. Australia values its longstanding relationship with Sri Lanka, reinforced by strong people-to-people links. Sri Lanka has an historic opportunity to forge a new beginning for all its citizens. As a friend of Sri Lanka, Australia is committed to helping Sri Lanka to address these challenges after years of conflict—to help Sri Lanka win the peace. I thank the House.

I ask leave of the House to move a motion to enable the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to speak for 11 minutes.

Leave granted.

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Deputy Leader of the Opposition speaking in reply to the ministerial statement for a period not exceeding 11 minutes.

Question agreed to.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The coalition supports the announcement today of additional funding for humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka. We also join with the government in raising concerns about the conditions facing civilians currently held in relief camps in northern Sri Lanka as a result of the violent confrontation earlier this year between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers.

The coalition supports the ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers, the laying down of arms and the renunciation of violence by all sides in the conflict. The coalition deplores terrorist attacks on civilians, wherever they may occur, and hopes that a political solution can be found that provides a lasting peace in Sri Lanka.

The coalition recently had an opportunity to discuss these issues directly with the Sri Lankan opposition leader and former Prime Minister, Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe. I appreciated his willingness to talk openly about past and present circumstances in Sri Lanka. The people of Sri Lanka, like people all around the world, want to live in peace and aspire to create better lives for their families. Sadly for Sri Lanka, the nation has experienced bitter internal conflict since the 1970s when rebels started fighting for a separate state for Tamils in Sri Lanka’s north and east. Armed conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the government has resulted in more than 70,000 deaths, hundreds of thousands displaced and severe restraints on economic development in many parts of the nation.

There was hope, about seven years ago, that a ceasefire would result in an end to the conflict, but violence returned and continued until the military defeat of the LTTE in May this year. Since that time it has been estimated that more than 250,000 people have been held in refugee camps. While the number of people held in these camps is a matter of dispute, the United Nations and international aid agencies have expressed concerns about the conditions under which the many thousands of people are being held.

The coalition respects the right of the government of Sri Lanka to bring justice to those suspected of being involved in terrorist activities. It is a fact that the LTTE are a proscribed terrorist group in a number of countries. While the Sri Lankan government has declared victory over the LTTE, a recent report that police had foiled an alleged plot to conduct a suicide bomb attack in Colombo shows that the security situation remains uncertain.

While the government must act to secure the nation against terrorism, the way in which the Sri Lankan government responds to the peace process will be important. Restraint should ensure that the conflict does not reignite and steps must be taken to minimise the risk that a new generation of Tamil Tigers could be radicalised. It is also vital that the government of Sri Lanka ensures it meets international standards for human rights in its treatment of the displaced people. This is important because it is vital that the seeds for long lasting peace are sown from the current situation and that it does not sow the seeds for a return to violence.

There can only be a political solution to the tensions in Sri Lanka, with a negotiated solution that accommodates the reasonable concerns of all parties. Sri Lankan expert DBS Jeyaraj has been reported on BBC World News as saying that any long delay in resettling the displaced Tamil people has the potential to further alienate them.

The Norwegian Minister of International Development, Erik Solheim, who has worked with both the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers for over a decade—and who helped broker the 2002 ceasefire—has said that if the Sri Lankan government shows generosity in victory, allows for greater Tamil autonomy and works hard to build an inclusive state for all citizens, there may be a long-term solution to tensions. In response, the Sri Lankan government has assured the international community that it is working on a political solution and that time is needed to obtain a consensus. The president, in his speech declaring victory over the LTTE, spoke of the need to end ethnic and religious conflict and promised a ‘home-grown solution to this conflict’.

It is concerning that the government of Sri Lanka has taken steps to expel Australian aid worker and UNICEF spokesman, James Elder. I urge the Sri Lankan government to review this decision and to work closely with international aid agencies to facilitate the free and open flow of aid and support to the people held in camps.

The United Nations has said in a statement that Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon intends to raise with the President of Sri Lanka the issue of Mr Elder’s expulsion and the detention of two other United Nations workers. The coalition welcomes recent reports that 2,000 people have just been released from the camps and have been allowed to return to their homes, as part of 10,000 people the government has said will be released over the next few days. While this is a positive development, it is vital that the process of release and resettlement takes place as quickly as possible. Again, the United Nations—while noting that the Sri Lankan authorities are stating that people are being screened for possible connections to the Tamil Tigers—has indicated, through its representative Neil Buhne, ‘The best solution is obviously that as many people leave as soon as possible’. The sooner that people are able to return to their homes and start to rebuild their lives, the sooner that steps can be taken to rebuild trust and respect between all communities in Sri Lanka.

Once described as the jewel of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka is one of the most beautiful countries on earth. Australia has long enjoyed a warm relationship with Sri Lanka, with two-way trade in 2007 valued at more than $230 million. Australia is also a generous provider of aid, having provided more than $35 million to them this financial year. We responded generously as a nation to the devastating tsunami on 26 December 2004, which killed more than 35,000 people and destroyed the bulk of Sri Lanka’s fishing fleet.

Like many countries in our region, Australia is a leading provider of educational services, with more than 8,000 Sri Lankan students currently studying at our tertiary institutions. According to the most recent census, there are more than 80,000 Sri Lankan people living in Australia and they have made a significant contribution to our economic and cultural development. Many Australians have developed close personal friendships with the people of Sri Lanka—particularly through educational exchange and business dealings—and many of our parliamentary members have taken part in political exchange visits. I particularly note the efforts of the member for Canning who, as chair for a number of years, and now as deputy chair of the Australia-Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Group, has hosted many Sri Lankan parliamentarians as a way of promoting a stronger relationship between our parliaments. It is these personal relationships that build greater trust and understanding that will underpin stronger diplomatic, cultural and economic relations into the future.

The coalition believes that Sri Lanka now has the opportunity to build the structures for enduring peace that will lead to greater economic development throughout their nation and which have the potential to bring great benefits to the Sri Lankan people. Australia, as a friend of Sri Lanka, will continue to support efforts at building peace and greater prosperity.