REFUGEE

A SRI Lankan naval crackdown on refugees attempting the short boat trip to India, and torrid conditions in Indian refugee camps, have forced many Tamils fleeing persecution to seek asylum in more distant nations such as Australia.

In an interview with ABC's Lateline this week, Sri Lanka's ambassador to the UN, Palitha Kohona, claimed no genuine refugee would travel to Australia to seek asylum when India was just a 35km boat ride away.

Mr Kohona, an Australian citizen and former diplomat who captured headlines in September for his decision to expel an Australian-born UNICEF spokesman for speaking out on child malnutrition in refugee camps, also dismissed claims that Tamils were persecuted in Sri Lanka.

He said the Australian way of life was a "magnet" for the Tamils.

But Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at the Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research and a commentator on Sri Lanka, said Mr Kohona's argument was "bizarre" given it was now "far more dangerous to try to reach India than Southeast Asia""Firstly more than 100,000 refugees from Sri Lanka are living in camps in Tamil Nadu and, secondly, the Sri Lankan navy has been intercepting boats trying to cross the Palk Strait to India," Professor Chellaney said.

"In the name of fighting remnant Tamil Tigers they attack boats of refugees; they have arrested people and sunk boats.

"That's the reason why you're getting boatpeople through Indonesia and other points; otherwise these guys would all be coming to India."

Professor Chellaney said democracies such as Australia and India should be working together to exert pressure on Sri Lanka to reach a peaceful political settlement with its Tamil population because "only then will they be able to deal with their refugee issue".

UNHCR spokeswoman for South Asia, Ariane Rummery, also warned against simplistic notions of what made a genuine refugee, saying: "Whether or not you have a well-founded fear of persecution is not mediated in any way by where you seek to claim asylum.

"The push factor is not diluted because there are factors that make you want to go to one destination over another."