The number of asylum seekers arriving from Sri Lanka has slowed dramatically in the five months since the Australian government said it would stop processing claims from that country, the Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday (1 Sep).

The decline pointed to improved conditions in Sri Lanka, said James Jupp, Director of the Centre for Immigration and Multicultural studies at Australian National University.

War in the country officially ended in May last year, when the government claimed victory over Tamil Tiger separatists it had been fighting for 26 years, the report said.

Only three of the 49 boats to reach Australia since April 9 have come from Sri Lanka. Processing of Sri Lankans resumed in July but no more have come by boat, the report further said.

''The numbers dropped off from Sri Lanka because the war is over,'' Dr Jupp said. ''Although there are still large numbers in rehabilitation camps, that's because their villages and towns have been destroyed.''

The Coalition immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison, said “the flow of boats from Sri Lanka started slowing in December last year.''