Australia's Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has won a commitment from the new Sri Lankan government to continue joint efforts to combat people smuggling.

Dutton met with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and other ministers during a visit to Colombo this week.

The new Sri Lankan administration, which won the election in January was praised by Dutton for its commitment to democratic reforms, human rights and reconciliation.

In a statement issued today from Canberra, Dutton said the purpose of the trip was to meet with members of the Sri Lankan Government and thank them for their continued cooperation regarding people smuggling and to further strengthen ties between our two countries.

"Over 1,200 people needlessly lost their lives through the cowardly and malicious actions of people smugglers between 2008 and 2013. Since we started turning back boats there have been no known deaths at sea," Dutton said.

"Australia and Sri Lanka have and will continue to work closely together to detect, disrupt and return people-smuggling ventures and combat other transnational crimes.
(Bernama)