The Cocos Islands cluster lies a little under halfway between Australia and Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n
THE remote Cocos Islands are being targeted as an asylum destination, with Sri Lanka's top envoy to Australia confirming his government stopped a boat carrying 113 people departing the Indian Ocean nation. <\/p>\n
Three boats have arrived in the past weeks carrying 135 asylum seekers to the small Cocos Islands cluster, which lies a little under halfway between Australia and Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n
People-smuggling syndicates have not historically targeted the Cocos Islands, preferring to send boats to Australian territory closer to Indonesia - either Christmas Island, south of Java, or Ashmore Reef off West Timor. <\/p>\n
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Sri Lankan envoy Thisara Samarasinghe: 'It is a very international racket.' <\/p>\n
Two boats were intercepted in waters off Christmas Island yesterday with 150 people on board. <\/p>\n
But the prospect of a third people-smuggling passage will stretch Australia's border patrols, already struggling with a surge of arrivals. The distance from Ashmore Reef to the Cocos Islands is more than 4000 kilometres, a massive expanse of sea for navy and other services to patrol. <\/p>\n
Until the past month, just two boats had attempted the nearly 3000-kilometre journey from Sri Lanka to the Cocos, one in 2011 and one in 2010 that had to be rescued when it got into distress. <\/p>\n
Sri Lanka's high commissioner in Canberra, Thisara Samarasinghe, told the Herald security services in his country had stopped 113 people on a boat three weeks ago, bound for Australia. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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