A spokesman for the Sri Lankan community says he has serious doubts about 85 asylum seekers wanting to come to New Zealand. A group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers are currently on a ship anchored off the Indonesian island of Bintan, near Singapore.
The United Sri Lankan Association's Dr Chula Rajapakse says he's suspicious of the group's credibility.
“I wouldn’t know for sure but I would have my serious doubts really, I mean this is not the first time we had groups like this coming in and I think, one feels really sorry for people who are really the meat in the sandwich, who are really being manipulated by people who are really people smugglers,” he says.
Dr Rajapakse says New Zealand shouldn't be considered a soft touch, and believes some among the group of asylum seekers may have links to, or be members of, Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger militant movement and should protect themselves.
“Amongst these people might be people who have inclinations for terrorism, and Sri Lanka has suffered a lot from these Tigers and right now their movement is very active internationally, and it seems coincidental that this group should appear at a time when there is so much propaganda activities from [them],” he says.
Listen to the full interview.
RadioLIVE