Another Boatload of Australian Asylum Seekers Arrives in Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan government has expressed concern over the increasing number of Australian asylum seekers landing on its shores.

Decades of draconian Labor and Liberal policies that have seen a complete sell-off of all state-owned services and drastic cuts to all social services, have turned the Australian society onto itself. As the population nears 40 million and the drought continues for the 10^th year running, the shortage of food and water is hitting hard. All natural resources have been sold off and unemployment has reached a staggering 28%. The numbers of homeless have swelled, and shanty towns have sprung up around the outskirts of major cities.

Whilst those who can afford it live in gated communities, total anarchy reigns outside the gates.

The poor, the sick and the elderly have simply been discarded and left to fend for themselves. The successive governments have labeled them un-Australian for dragging down the economy and letting everyone down. The retirement age has been raised to 85 years and the pension has been scrapped and replaced by the work-for-the-pension scheme, ensuring that almost no-one will ever get their hands on their Super Fund.

Faced with an uncertain future these disenfranchised people take their chances with people smugglers and board rusty discarded Navy vessels for the often perilous journey north to a small island in the Indian Ocean that holds much promise. With the cost of living at one tenth of that in Australia, good social services and cricketing prowess, Sri Lanka has become the choice destination for economic refugees from Australia.

The journey is fraught with danger and many asylum seekers do not make it. There is no Navy to stop them or rescue them should their boat capsize or be they attacked by the many pirates that roam the Indian Ocean. The mismanagement of the defence budget saw a total disintegration of Australian Navy at the start of the century.

In the early years there were still boats of asylum seekers heading the other way. How the tables have turned.
The number of Australians seeking asylum in Sri Lanka have reached well over a thousand in the past year. The Australian ambassador in Colombo has been called in to 'please explain'.

The offshore detention centre in Banda Aceh has reached capacity, and the Indonesian prime minister has arrived in Colombo on Monday to discuss a proposal for the 'Australian solution'.