Tamil Goodbye
Since the start of 2012 the number of Sri Lankan refugees - mostly Tamils - headed for Christmas Island has swelled. Are they fleeing persecution or merely opportunists seeking a shortcut to Australia?
"I lost my money, my job, my land...everything," explains an asylum seeker intercepted on a boat bound for Australia. Thousands continue to make the journey, claiming to be in search of a life free from persecution. "Before the paramilitary could do anything to me, I fled the country," says one man. But while the Sri Lankan government maintain that life is improving and people should be more patient, its message appears to be falling on deaf ears. This report follows the Sri Lankan navy as it intercepts another boat loaded with asylum seekers bound for Australia, and asks: now the country's civil war is over, why are things so bad that people are still desperate to leave?
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