Reviewing Banned Diaspora List Is Important At This Juncture: FM Mangala
March 18, 2015
Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera today said in parliament that the list of individuals and entities that represented the Tamil diaspora, banned by the Rajapaksa regime should be reviewed.
Minister Samaraweera made these remarks during his speech in the parliament a short while ago. He noted that reviewing the list of individuals and entities is an important exercise at this juncture when the government of is seriously committed to expediting the reconciliation process.
“In doing so, the Sri Lanka diaspora whether it be Sinhala, Tamil or Muslim has an extremely important role to pay in taking SL forward as a nation,” he added.
Last year, the previous government used UN regulation No: 1 of 212 under UNSC resolution 1373 to list 424 individuals and 16 entities as banned under gazette 1854/41 of March 21.
He also expressed his views on the foreign policy adopted by the previous regime while pointing out that Sri Lanka then shifted out of its position of a consensus-builder to a path of confrontation, non-engagement and intransigence.
“We abandoned our traditional partners including those countries that helped SL in its journey of development and those who helped us in time of crisis,” he said.
He went on to state the diplomacy practiced during the Rajapaksa regime was like that of a zero sum game, cultivating only one set of countries at the expense of another.
We publish below the Minister’s speech in Parliament today;
Hon. Speaker,
I stand before you today to present amendments, in line with our international obligations, to United Nations Regulations 1 and 2 of 2012 promulgated under the United Nations Act number 45 of 1968.
As the House is aware, following the Al Qiada terrorist attacks in September 2001, the Security Council of the United Nations, acting under Chapter 7 of its Charter, adopted resolution 1373 on 28 September 2001 which is a wide-ranging comprehensive resolution setting out steps and strategies to combat international terrorism. The resolution which is binding on all States called on countries, among other steps to be taken, to prevent and suppress the financing of terrorism. On 15 October 1999, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 1267 setting out in particular, measures to be imposed against the Taliban. This resolution and its modifications and subsequent resolutions imposes upon member States of the UN, a series of obligations relating to sanctions measures against entities and persons associated with the Al Qaida or Taliban as designated by the Sanctions Committee of the UN and whose names appear on the ‘consolidated list’ adopted by the Committee.
