Plan for legal migration of unskilled workers to Australia denied

November 04 2009 by Liam Clifford

Sri Lanka's idea to introduce 200,000 unskilled workers to Australia has been quashed by the Australian government.

SRI Lanka's immigration chief says he has talked with Australia’s Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, about unskilled migrant workers going to Australia, apparently to stop the migration of boatpeople.

The commissioner for Immigration in Sri Lanka, P.B. Abeykoon, yesterday said he raised the issue in an attempt at breaking the asylum stalemate.
A spokesman for Australian Immigration Minister Chris Evans has refuted claims of the practicalities of such a plan, insisting Australia did not want to run a unskilled migration program.

Last night a news report claimed another boat of suspected asylum seekers were intercepted, they were spotted off the Australian coast and an Australian immigration crew stopped the boat at 5.30pm, just 35 miles from Cape Van Diemen, north of Darwin. The boat was said to be carrying 16 people, all of whom will now be taken to Christmas Island.

Abeykoon said unskilled migration was discussed with the Australian Immigration Minister. He said that he had raised the idea when he visited Canberra, of unskilled migrants being introduced legally as a way of stopping the flow of boats.

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