Sri Lanka's naval operations director Commodore N. Attygalle and its head of naval intelligence Nishantha Ulugetenne have told The Weekend Australian newspaper that Australia ought to turn large numbers of Sri Lankan asylum seekers straight back home as a real deterrent to people-smugglers. The naval officials have warned that the reluctance of the Australian government to turn them back is draining Sri Lanka Navy's resources to help Australia to combat the influx of illegal migrants. "When you start deporting then this problem will ease for us," Commodore Ulugetenne has told the newspaper. He has explained that just turning boats back will not help since the smugglers will purposely sabotage the boats and then the Australian government has to rescue the people because they are in Australian waters. "If (Australia) turns the boats around, then these guys will just pull the plug, the boats will start sinking and you will have to assist them because it's in your waters," he told The Weekend Australian. "So the best way is deportation." "More than 1,500 Sri Lankans have landed in Australia in the last six months. What are you going to do with them, screen them one by one?" the senior naval officials have asked. Commodore Attygalle has explained that Sri Lanka Navy was too small at the moment to deal with the problem and suggested Australia to lend an ocean-going operational vessel so it can conduct patrols in a high-seas choke lane used by asylum-seeker vessels. The Sri Lankan Navy within the last two weeks has prevented over 500 people illegally migrating to Australia. The police have arrested over 700 people attempting to migrate to Australia in the past six months.
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