by Melani Manel Perera

They sought better job opportunities by trying to reach Australia and New Zealand illegally. Since their arrest they and their families' lives have been on hold. They spent this Christmas behind bars. For one migrant who was released, the detainees are "innocent."

Chilaw (AsiaNews) - For dozens of Catholic families, this will be a Christmas "without joy, peace and sharing" because their husbands and fathers are still in prison, some for three months, after they tried to reach illegally Australia and New Zealand in search of a job.

Since the men's arrests, few of the families involved (some non-Catholic) have been able to raise the money to pay for bail because most of them are poor. Moreover, the wheels of justice have been turning uselessly as hearings are delayed or postponed without reason.

Anthony Dencil is one of those detained. The 47-year-old Catholic man has been in Negombo prison for three months. He did not know he was on an illegal ship. He was on the vessel after he was hired as a cook.

His wife Deepa Renuka Kumari, a Buddhist, is the only one in the family earning some money. However, 300 rupees a day are not enough. She does not know how to feed her three children, 20, 14 and 5 respectively, since "meat and vegetables cost too much."

"Before 25 December, we brought him (her husband) some pictures of Jesus and some clean clothes so that he could attend Christmas Mass," she told AsiaNews.

Jude Anthony, 49, was released a few days before Christmas after spending six months behind bars.

For the Catholic man, who has four daughters, "innocent people are being held in prison. Only their poverty pushed them to take such a risk. If we had a job, we would not have tried to emigrate."

• sri
• lanka
• christmas
• catholic
• migrants
• illegal
• australia
• new
• zealand
• arrest