Sunday, 03rd August 2014 By Daya Gamage Large-scale US surveillance is seriously hampering US-based journalists and lawyers in their work. National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance is undermining media freedom and t ...
Author Archives: MFA User
No communal or religious dispute in Sri Lanka – Minister A.H.M.Fowzie
Sunday, 03rd August 2014 By Uditha Kumarasinghe Senior Minister for Urban Affairs A.H.M. Fowzie's significant contribution towards inter-communal harmony is a clear reflection of his illustrious political career which ...
TN Politicos Unite Over SL’s Bid to Slight CM
Saturday, 02nd August 2014 By Express News Service A large posse of police posted near the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in the city, during the protest on Friday | (D Sampath Kumar/EPS) CHENNAI: The flippant art ...
Damage already done, says Jayalalithaa
Saturday, 02nd August 2014 Meera Sreenivasan Sruthisagar Yamunan An article that appeared on the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry website “trivialising” Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has come a ...
Fishermen firm on ‘sail to Katchatheevu’
Saturday, 02nd August 2014 By D. J. Walter Scott The Rameswaram fishermen have resolved to go ahead with their ‘sail to Katchatheevu’ agitation on Saturday, pressing for the release of all arrested fishermen with boats. ...
Sri Lankan Ambassador says Goodbye to Kuwait
Saturday,02nd August 2014From : http://news.kuwaittimes.net/pdf/2014/aug/02/p35.pdf ...
Response to Inquiries on Asylum Seekers
The Ministry of External Affairs has received a number of inquiries on the return of individual asylum seekers, mainly of Pakistan origin.
Sri Lanka’s territory has been used by those seeking asylum for over a decade. However, the asylum seeker/refugee population in Sri Lanka witnessed a dramatic 700 per cent increase during the period 2013-14 and as at 30 June 2014, there are 1562 asylum seekers and 308 refugees. Investigations have revealed that the sudden increase in the number of asylum seekers in Sri Lanka was as a result of people falling victim to commercially driven human trafficking networks which abuse the liberal visa policy in place in the country exacerbated by a sharp increase in the numbers resettled in third countries in 2012. Regrettably, the process of resettlement slowed down considerably in 2013/14. It is therefore questionable whether they have a legitimate claim to seek asylum.
The influx of asylum seekers and their tendency not to have an established place of residence has resulted in serious law & order, security, as well as health related issues for the authorities. In fact, in April 2014, ten cases of malaria were detected among these asylum seekers. This detection was made at a time when Sri Lanka, having achieved zero indigenous cases of malaria for the past several years, was under consideration for obtaining WHO certification.