Australia’s largely secret role in actively blocking persecuted people from escaping life-threatening situations should be exposed more often. Canberra seems happy colluding with authoritarian figures in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and beyond to “stop the boats”. Here’s Aubrey Belford in The Global Mail: Australian authorities have increasingly turned to a strategy some find disturbing: they are…
Showing all posts tagged Sri Lanka
Memo to Murdoch’s rag; academic BDS is about Zionist occupation not Judaism
I’m no longer surprised by the profound dishonesty in Rupert Murdoch’s Australian when it comes to discussing Israel and Palestine. Today’s editorial covers the ongoing saga (pushed by them alone, an obsessive little bunch they are) about Dr Jake Lynch at Sydney University. They clearly imply he’s anti-Semitic for daring to oppose connections with Israeli…
How lobby trips to Israel and beyond pollute political and media culture
Far too many reporters and politicians take free trips to Israel, America and elsewhere. In the vast majority of cases they’re little more than propaganda exercises. When it comes to Zionist lobby visits to Israel, I can count on one hand the number of returnees who write or say anything independent instead of mouthing Israeli…
Sri Lanka remains a damaged nation and the UN is part of the problem
What happened in 2009 was nothing short of killing on a mass scale. The BBC has received a leaked document that offers damning evidence: The United Nations failed in its mandate to protect civilians in the last months of Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war, a leaked draft of a highly critical internal UN report says.…
Think twice before visiting Sri Lanka as a tourist
Ever since the end of the country’s civil war in 2009, Colombo has promoted tourism as a way to normalise the place. The Western media has blindly followed. But Sri Lanka isn’t a normal state; it remains authoritarian. I’m proud that the UK-based Sri Lanka Campaign, where I’m an advisor and have pushed for this…
Remembering the slaughter in Sri Lanka
Last week saw the London launch of a new book by Frances Harrison called Still Counting the Dead. Harrison is a former BBC foreign correspondent. The work is about the civil war in Sri Lanka and the killing of tens of thousands of Tamils in the slaughter. Here’s video of the event:
Don’t believe that Sri Lanka has become more democratic
Read here for an incredibly brave human rights worker, Ruki Fernando, explaining the reasons why Sri Lanka remains mired in despotism: This is how our society used to behave and think during the war. There were hardly any concern in the south about the Tamil victims when horrendous things were happening, because people simply wanted…
Tamils remain occupied and monitored in Sri Lanka
The BBC’s Charles Haviland reports from the previously sealed north-eastern corner: I was with the army as they detonated left-over munitions near a major battle scene. “Here, crouch behind these sandbags,” they told me as we stood, in protective clothing, a few hundred metres from the detonation site. “If shrapnel comes anywhere near, just duck.”…