Navy apprehends 17 illegal migrants heading to Australia
 

The naval crew onboard ship SLNS Samudura, apprehended 17 Sri Lankans who were on an attempt to heading towards Australia on 5th March 2016 at 2.30 am in the seas 40 NMs off the Galle lighthouse. Among the apprehended people were, a woman and two small girls and two boys. The said migrants have left from the Negombo harbor onboard fishing trawler called “Vindana 3” on 1st March. The Sri Lanka Navy apprehended the migrants on a tip off received by intelligence personnel.

The apprehended migrants were taken to the port of Galle with the help of naval craft P414 and handed over to the Police Station Galle for onward investigations.

There is no means of heading towards Australia by illegal methods as the country is very strict with regard to such migration. However people keep on venturing and losing their hard earned money based on the bogus information given by human smugglers and finally become convicts in the hands of law. Due to the deployment of Sri Lanka Navy’s regular patrols and its strong network of intelligence it is impossible to break the shackles of the Navy and flee free.