“I wanted a good job. I tried hard, but could not get one, only because I am a Sri Lankan refugee. I decided to sneak into Australia as an illegal immigrant. I know that it is against the law, but all I wanted is a respectable life. I thought I could get it in Australia,” said 23-year-old Subhash Karan, one of the Sri Lankan refugees who was picked up after the Mangalore police busted a human trafficking racket from Mangalore to Australia.
“I paid Rs 1 lakh to them (middlemen). I had taken the money from different people, thinking that I could repay them once I got a job in Australia. If I cannot repay the money, I have no option but to commit suicide,” he said.
Subhash was one year old when his father and mother left the war-ridden, Tamil-dominated, Killinochi district in Sri Lanka and arrived in Chennai, then Madras, in 1990. The family has since settled in the Gummidipoondi refugee camp in Chennai. Subhash now has a younger brother and sister.
“The condition at the rehabilitation camp is horrible. The place given to us is as big as a toilet and we live like slaves. I was doing my MBA, despite all my problems. Though I am a graduate, I am forced to work as a loader, only because I am a Sri Lankan refugee. I have attended many interviews, and my application is rejected the moment they see the ‘Sri Lankan Refugee’ tag. It has wrecked my life,” Subhash said. When all seemed lost, he saw hope. “Someone contacted me and assured me of a good life in Australia. I crosschecked it with the Lankan refugees who have already reached there, through email, and found that they are well settled,” Subhash said. He paid the money and left his camp to reach Mangalore three days ago.