Former Foreign Secretary Wagiswara involved in human smuggling

Oct 24, 2016

Human smuggling has become a big headache to many countries in the world. The so called international community is focusing on this problem and is taking steps to stop it. Sometimes even their foreign relations policy is based on this. A good example is how Australia refrained from going against Sri Lanka on the ‘war crimes’ issues and was supportive of Sri Lanka. This was to get Sri Lanka’s support to stop smuggling of people to Australia from Sri Lanka. Australia went against the anti Sri Lanka chorus at the CHOGM with the Prime Minister taking part in a show of solidarity. Australia also donated two ships to Sri Lanka to stop smuggling of people.

In recent time US and the EU has been emphasizing on taking tough action against mass migration and human smuggling and there is pressure on Sri Lanka to take action as the country has become a transit hub for human smugglers. The Government under pressure has set up a human smuggling task force with the Foreign Ministry playing a leading role under the supervision of foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera. Though the foreign minister is keen to put a stop to human smuggling and support the action of the US and the EU countries what he does not know is that even his Ministry’s senior staff have been guilty of human smuggling using the cover of office.

The Government facilitate the getting of visas, pay for the tickets and the salaries for two domestic helpers when it comes to Ambassadors and for one domestic helper when it is a diplomat of a lesser rank. Some of these diplomats, whether career officers or political appointees when going to western countries use the cover of office to take their relations and friends as domestic helpers and help them stay back or disappear in those countries. The shame is that even very senior career officers with decades of experience and showing a face of high integrity and honesty are guilty of stooping to this illegal and unscrupulous practice.

Lanka News Web is in possessions of details how former Foreign Secretary and newly appointed High Commissioner to India Chitrangani Wagiswara smuggled two distantly connected young men to Canada. When Wagiswara was appointed as High Commissioner to Canada she informed the Ministry she will be taking two domestic helpers with her. With the Ministry help she got Official Passports numbering OL 3638290 and OL 3638291 and also the Canadian visas for Podigedara Janaka Wickramasinghe and Mudiyanselage Janaka Dinusha Bandara who are distantly connected to Wagiswara and her husband Dulip. They left to Canada on 08/12/2009.

When Wagiswara was supposed to return to Sri Lanka after she finished her term in February 2014 she put in motion a well orchestrated plan to keep the two domestics back in Canada. The day she was supposed to leave she informed the office staff that one of the domestics has ‘disappeared’. But she refrained from informing the Canadian authorities of the ‘disappearance’. If a domestic helper ‘disappeared’ without her knowledge she should have been a bit more careful about the second one and make sure he comes back with her to Sri Lanka. But on the way to the airport to return to Sri Lanka Wagiswara claimed that the second domestic had not got into the vehicle and has also ‘disappeared’. According to community sources the Wagiswara made sure that all personal belongings of the two domestic helpers were kept back in Canada and returned to them. Community sources also claim that the two domestics have been saying that a large amount of money has been paid by them to be brought to Canada. To be fair to Wagiswara Lanka News Web has not been able to confirm this allegation. 

Lanka News Web has unearthed lot of interesting things done by Wagiswara to deceive the Foreign Ministry and the Department of Immigration. At no point did she inform the Ministry that her two domestics disappeared in Canada. An officer has to inform the Ministry of a ‘disappearance’ of a domestic as it is the Ministry that issues an official note to get the visas and also official letters get them official passports. It is on the strength of these Ministry documents that the official passports and visas are issues to domestics. If a domestic ‘disappears’ in a country it might be difficult for another officer to take a domestic to that country in the future.

Being very selfish and thinking only of herself Wagiswara pretended that the two domestics returned back with her and submitted the passport of Domestic Bandara (OL 3638291) to be cancelled. The passport was cancelled on 30/04/2014. But Bandara has never returned to Sri Lanka since he left to Canada on 08/12/2009. So Wagiswara has carried the passport of Bandara without the permission of Controller Immigration all the way to Sri Lanka which is an offence and misleading the Ministry got it cancelled using all the wily deceptions which is a common trait in her behavior. Domestic Janaka only returned to Sri Lanka on 26/02/2016 by flight QR 668, good two years after Wagiswara returned to Sri Lanka. Janaka applied and got a new passport N 6714138 on 09/06/2016 with his occupation stated as cook. According to Sri Lankan community sources Janaka has got caught to Canadian authorities for overstaying the visa and was sent back to Sri Lanka.

At a time when many accuse political appointees of doing nefarious activities senior career officers like Wagiswara has brought shame and disgrace not only to the Foreign Service but to the whole country by flagrantly violating the rules of the Ministry and Laws of the country. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera should commence investigations into this disgusting conduct of Wagiswara and take action against her. Otherwise the whole ‘Yahapalana’ chorus is nothing but empty talk.