| Govt. in talks with India By a Staff Reporter-2013-06-21
The government has already begun diplomatic negotiations with India on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, Cabinet Spokesperson, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, said yesterday.
 The apparent lack of ‘government level’ interaction between Sri Lanka and India regarding the 13th Amendment does not mean the required diplomatic attention is not being given to the matter, he added. Addressing the media during the weekly Cabinet briefing, Rambukwella commented on the growing Indian concerns over what it considers as ‘Sri Lanka’s inability to stay true to the specifications of the Indo-Lanka Accord,’ and said,“There is a system to address the Indian concerns over the 13th Amendment at government level, although this may not be evident to onlookers” and claimed everything cannot be revealed at the moment, but when the matter comes to a conclusion, all will be revealed.
He also said, the Government of Sri Lanka was the body tasked with taking decisions regarding the 13th Amendment, but that does not mean the government will override the Constitution, or the people who elected it.” Stating that ‘consideration should be shown’ towards Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s apparent disappointment at the Sri Lankan Government’s efforts to revise the Amendment, he said the 13th Amendment was brought to the country ‘in times of war,’ and the Sri Lankan populace, now as a sovereign people, should be given the freedom to discuss the matter openly.
“At that time, organizations that claimed to have had international backing, were bent on dividing the country. Now we are independent, and the rights of the people must be acknowledged first and foremost,” he said.
Rambukwella confirmed the clause allowing the amalgamation of Provincial Councils will be removed from the 13th Amendment. “No time frame has been given in this regard as of now, but it will be implemented as soon as possible when the Parliamentary Select Committee is convened,” he said, adding the need for revision of clauses dealing with police powers will be considered as well.
When asked whether a referendum will be held on the revision of the 13th Amendment, he said, “Everything will be done according to the Constitution.”
When asked about the recent question and answer session held by Secretary to the President, Lalith Weeratunga, where he had stated the government was inclined toward ‘taking power devolution to the smallest possible level,’ Rambukwella said, “The people must be given the final opportunity to make decisions important to them, and Weeratunga has acknowledged this fact. We will be addressing the issue of power devolution in the future, and the ‘unit of power devolution’ will be downsized or enlarged, wherever necessary.”
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Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Friday, June 21, 2013
How Did The Provincial Councils Become White Elephants?
By R.M.B Senanayake -June 21, 2013 |
R.M.B. Senanayake
Mr. Lalith Weeratunge, the Secretary to the President has said on Twitter that the Provincial Councils system is a white elephant. Yes indeed for reasons that lie fairly and squarely at the door of the Central Government.
President J.R. Jayawardene passed the 13th Amendment and the Provincial Councils Law. But these laws had to be given effect to by the subsequent President Premadasa, who had little understanding of the principles of Public Administration. When there is a wide devolution of power there has to be changes in the existing administrative structures to give effect to such devolution. If power is devolved to the provincial councils then there should beshrinkage of power of the central government. But our political leadership was not willing to do so. So we have duplication of administrative structures and entities which is the primary reason why the Provincial Councils have become white elephants, for the work of the central government has not shrunk as devolution of power both logically and otherwise should mean.
Such shrinkage of the activities of the central government was essential if the costs of government werenot to go up. But our politicians did not agree to such shrinkage of power and functions of the central government continue and they add on to the concurrent list or usurp the powers of the Provincial Councils.
Let me illustrate. The District Administration was pivoted on the kachcheri which among other functions like enforcing the general laws and collecting revenue, also served as the provider of the general administrative services or the so-called housekeeping services such as providing space for the different departments or branch offices of the central government departments, providing centralized filing and record-keeping, centralized communications etc. The Government Agent was the Head of the kachcheri and he was empowered in many laws and legislative enactments as the person in whom power is vested in the district for the implementation of these laws.
But when the functions of the central government were devolved to the Provincial Councils the kachcheri continued to be under the central government although the Government Agent was designated as the District Secretary. He should really serve as the Secretary to the Provincial Council. But instead of doing so and bringing the kachcheri under the Provincial Council the government of the day set up new institutions to function under the Provincial Council. So there is duplication of the costs of the administrative establishment. Who is to be blamed? The central government must bear the responsibility for this duplication of administrative overheads which have rendered the provincial councils white elephants from a national point of view.
The Government should have brought the kachcheri under the Provincial Council for the devolution involved the transfer of general administration to the Provincial Council. Had this been done the central government could have confined its activities to those specialized functions which remained with the central government. It was also open to the central government to make the provincial council its agent in carrying out some of the functions which continued to remain with the central government.
Consider education for example. The administration and supervision of the majority of the schools in the province was transferred to the provincial council. But a few so-called national schools continued under the central government. Is this necessary? Even if it is necessary, the supervision of these few schools could have been carried out from the center and the former Education office of the District or Province could have been transferred to the Provincial Council (P.C). The same consideration applies to the so-called Teaching hospitals which were brought under the central government. But the central government duplicated these offices by setting up separate offices for the provincial councils in addition to the central government offices. So there has been much duplication of administrative institutions together with the accommodation and other housekeeping facilities duplicated and causing a burden on the nation’s coffers.
Integration of services at the field level recognizes the principle of economy. The institutional integration of all local activities is the method of bringing this about in provincial or local affairs.
Our power hungry political leadership does not like to dilute their power which they project as the wish of the Sinhala Buddhist majority. Devolution however is for all communities and the PCs have become white elephants only because President Premadasa did not rationalize and re-structure the administrative structures consequent to the devolution of power provided for under the 13th Amendment. Instead two parallel authorities were created in the districts /provinces and this has not only made the PCs white elephants it has made the costs of running the State unnecessarily high.
The government should even at this stage draw up a more economical system of administration for the country. This will involve joint study co-opting the officials of the Provincial Councils as well.
Amendments to 13-A only via PSC NPC poll would be held as scheduled
by Dasun Edirisinghe-June 19, 2013
The government yesterday said that any alterations to the 13th amendment would be effected only via the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to be set up. It requested other parties to take part in PSC proceedings. That move, it added, was in keeping with the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations.
Addressing a media conference at the party headquarters in Colombo, SLFP Senior Vice President and Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said that the main Opposition UNP and the Tamil National Alliance had not nominated their members to the PSC and that was why there was a delay in setting it up.
Minister de Silva said however that the Northern, North Western and Central Provincial Council elections would be held as scheduled and they would not be affected by the amending of the 13th Amendment.
Asked to comment on the allegation that the government had not invited the UNP to take part in the PSC, Minister de Silva said that the invitation had been extended by the Speaker to all parties at a party leaders’ meeting attended by UNP MP John Amaratunga.
The SLFP was to appoint the PSC on Tuesday, but the UNP had asked for two weeks to decide whether to attend it or not, the Minister said. "We can form a PSC and proceed, but the SLFP needs to go ahead in a very democratic manner with the participation of the TNA and the UNP." Minister de Silva said that a solution to Sri Lanka’s international problem should come from within.
He said that the Sri Lankan government was capable enough to handle internal matters.
SLFP General Secretary and Health Minister Maithripala Sririsena, SLFP Vice President and Petroleum Industries Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and SLFP Treasurer and Youth Affairs and Skills Development Minister Dallas Alahapperuma also attended the media conference.
India to dispatch Menon
June 20, 2013
India is to send National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon to Sri Lanka next month for talks with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and other government officials.
The meeting will take place amidst the backdrop of moves by the government to repeal the 13th Amendment to the constitution.
According to the Uthayan newspaper, Menon is expected in Colombo on July 7 to discuss bilateral and regional issues including the 13th Amendment to the constitution.
India had this week told the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that it is not happy with moves in Sri Lanka to dilute the 13thAmendment to the constitution.
The Indian External Affairs spokesperson’s office, in a statement, said that Prime Minister Manomhan Sing conveyed to the TNA delegation that he was dismayed by reports suggesting that the Government of Sri Lanka planned to dilute certain key provisions of the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution ahead of elections to the Northern Provincial Council.
A six-member delegation of the TNA led by R. Sampanthan which includes Mavai S. Senathirajah, Suresh Premachandran, P. Selvarajah, Selvam Adaikkalanathan and M.A. Sumanthiran met the Indian Prime Minister yesterday as well as the Indian Foreign Minister and the National Security Adviser
It was noted that the proposed changes raised doubts about the commitments made by the Sri Lankan Government to India and the international community, including the United Nations, on a political settlement in Sri Lanka that would go beyond the 13th Amendment.
“The changes would also be incompatible with the recommendation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), set up by the Government of Sri Lanka, calling for a political settlement based on the devolution of power to the provinces,” the Indian External Affairs Ministry said.
The Prime Minister stated that he was deeply concerned about the welfare and wellbeing of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. He stressed on the expectation that the Sri Lankan Tamil community would lead a life of dignity, as equal citizens, and reiterated that India would make every effort to ensure the achievement of a future for the community marked by equality, justice and self-respect. (Colombo Gazette)
India’s housing in un-freed land facilitates Sinhalicisation
[TamilNet, Friday, 21 June 2013, 09:32 GMT]Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Mr P Selvarasa has warned that the occupying Colombo government has planned to grab several houses allocated under the Indian aid for war-affected Tamil families in the Eastern Province especially in Batticaloa district to be handed over to Sinhalese who are being brought down to the Batticaloa district from the South. The ultimate culprit that makes the housing meaningless is the Indian policy of not recognising or freeing the land of Eezham Tamils for them. If the policy is tacit support to demographic genocide, the result will be a Palestinian crisis for Eezham Tamils in the island. What has to be primarily addressed is the policy of New Delhi, commented activists of alternative politics in the East.
The TNA parliamentarian Selvarasa, briefing the media this week, said that the TNA would not allow such illegal handing over of houses under the Indian-aid to Sinhalese encroachers.
“We will not allow the Indian house aid scheme to be used for housing the newly settled Sinhalese families in the district. We have brought this situation to the notice of the district Government Agent”, Mr Selvarasa said.
Under the 50-thousand Indian housing scheme for the war-affected families, four thousand houses are allocated for the Eastern Province.
Two thousand houses would be constructed in Batticaloa district, one thousand houses in Trincomalee district and the balance 1000 houses in the Ampaa'rai district.
Now, the Colombo authorities are diverting a section of these houses to colonisers from the South.
India building houses without recognising the right of Eezham Tamils to their land and home, and without recognising the sovereignty of their nation, would be meaningless like what is now happening in the East. It would only lead to Palestinisation and perpetual crisis, commented activists of alternative politics in the East.
The TNA, rather than telling that they would not allow Indian houses going to Sinhalese, should be able to tell India itself to its face to first change its policies towards the nation of Eezham Tamils and make their land free, so that they could live in their houses in peace, the activists further said.
The uphill road
The winners in Sri Lanka’s civil war continue to make life hard for the losers
Banyan
OFTEN, when Sri Lanka’s ethnic-Sinhalese-dominated government appears to be offering a hand in friendship to the Tamil minority, it turns out to be a slap in the face. For example, in 2010 it appointed a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission to investigate the final phase of the 26-year civil war.
Concerns On The Draft Code Of Media Ethics
Harith de Mel
The Ministry of Mass Media and Information has recently proposed a Draft ‘Code of Media Ethics’. Upon reading the preliminary draft which has been made available selectively, the writer would like to highlight certain immediate concerns about this step by the Ministry. These concerns are primarily made for the preservation of an essential element of democracy; the freedom of the Media. There shall be no specific comment on the content of the Draft Code at this juncture as it would be premature even though on a perusal of the same it is much warranted.
Govt puts its media ethics on hold
MR for code formulated by media-20.June.2013, 
President Mahinda Rajapaksa says an all-inclusive code-of-ethics for the media should emerge from within the industry.The President’s office quoted the President as saying that the government is simply playing a supportive role on the matter.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has yesterday said that the new media code proposed by the Sri Lankan government contains overbroad and vague language that could have a severe and chilling effect on free speech.
The Ministry of Mass Media and Information officially proposed a Code of Media Ethics that would apply to print and electronic media, including the Internet.
HRW says the proposed code comes at a time when the government has taken various measures to clamp down on Sri Lanka’s once vibrant media, including forcing some electronic media critical of the government to close down.
“The government’s proposed media code is part of a sustained campaign to control the media and curtail dissent,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Sri Lankan journalists are already under enormous pressure not to be critical of the government, and the vagueness of this code will likely lead to greater self-censorship to avoid government retaliation.”
“The government’s proposed media code is part of a sustained campaign to control the media and curtail dissent,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Sri Lankan journalists are already under enormous pressure not to be critical of the government, and the vagueness of this code will likely lead to greater self-censorship to avoid government retaliation.”
The minister of mass media and information, Keheliya Rambukwella, announced that the code is intended to create a “salutary media culture in the country” because the actions of unnamed media houses had “led to many problems.
World Refugee day;More than 80 journalists forced to flee abroad in 2012
Photo courtesy Colombo Telegraph-Harim Peiris-21 Jun, 2013
Groundviews Both the ruling Rajapakse Administration and the opposition United National Party are busy with their own versions of constitutional reform. The UNP with making constitutional reform proposals for dialogue and discussion, while the Government, was busy using its two third majority to rush through yet another constitutional amendment, this one reducing even further the very limited and truncated devolution of political power existing under the current 13th amendment to the Constitution.
The UNP proposals are a basis for a broader coalition
Video: UK wants SL to keep its commitments  FRIDAY, 21 JUNE 2013
The British Government said it would have the opportunity to further urge Sri Lanka to make concrete progress in areas of concern during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Sri Lanka.
“CHOGM will also be an opportunity for the British Government to further urge Sri Lanka to make concrete progress in areas of human rights, reconciliation and political settlement,” British High Commissioner John Rankin said during his ‘ask the high commissioner’ session when answering a question as to why the British Government had decided to attend CHOGM instead of boycotting it. Mr. Rankin said the decision to hold CHOGM in SL was not something new was decided two years ago at the previous heads of government meeting in Perth. Prime Minister David Cameron had earlier confirmed he would attend the meeting because of the importance Britain placed in the Commonwealth. “It’s an organization of shared values of respect for democracy, development, human rights justice and the rule of law,” he said adding that the British Government had made it clear that it would expect Sri Lanka to demonstrate its commitment to these values. “As Foreign Secretary Burt has made it clear that we will look to SL as we will expect any host to demonstrate its commitment to these values,” Mr. Rankin said. |
Weapons and ammunitions collected by DIG Vaas from police dept. not returned; has given arms training to underworld criminals
(Lanka-e-News-20.June.2013, 11.30PM) The murderer cum extortionist DIG Vaas Gunawardena had been responsible for the loss of a large quantity of weapons and ammunition belonging to the police . He had either sold or used them for his criminal activities by supplying them to the underworld criminals. The latter had also been given training in weaponry to underworld criminals at the police weaponry training ground itself, according to information reaching Lanka e news inside information division.
Since the time Vaas was an SSP until the time of his arrest as DIG Peliyagoda , 9 firearms, mini ooshi bullets , 360 T 56 bullets, 150 bullets (three boxes) of 9 m.m. pistols which were taken and kept in his possession have gone missing.
He had collected them from time to time citing the ground that they are for the special security division under him , but what truly happened to them is still not known. In the registers (arms and Amo register ) of the Galle police headquarters , the weapons and ammunitions taken by Vaas Gunawardena when he was the SSP at Galle are recorded as follows :
(Lanka-e-News-20.June.2013, 11.30PM) The murderer cum extortionist DIG Vaas Gunawardena had been responsible for the loss of a large quantity of weapons and ammunition belonging to the police . He had either sold or used them for his criminal activities by supplying them to the underworld criminals. The latter had also been given training in weaponry to underworld criminals at the police weaponry training ground itself, according to information reaching Lanka e news inside information division.Since the time Vaas was an SSP until the time of his arrest as DIG Peliyagoda , 9 firearms, mini ooshi bullets , 360 T 56 bullets, 150 bullets (three boxes) of 9 m.m. pistols which were taken and kept in his possession have gone missing.
He had collected them from time to time citing the ground that they are for the special security division under him , but what truly happened to them is still not known. In the registers (arms and Amo register ) of the Galle police headquarters , the weapons and ammunitions taken by Vaas Gunawardena when he was the SSP at Galle are recorded as follows :
NEED SEPARATE WORKSHOP TO TALK ABOUT RAJAPAKSA LAWLESSNESS - MANGALA
June 21, 2013
Charging that President Mahinda Rajapaksa and members of his family act as if the common laws of the country don’t concern them, UNP MP Mangala Samaraweera today stated that the rest of the government politicians are following the example set by the President. Ministers, their children, Provincial Councilors and Pradehsiya Sabha members are involved in murders, rape, child molestation and even abusing teachers, however there have been no punishments for them, he claimed, speaking at a press conference today.
Referring to a recent remark by Minister Maithripala Siridena that the SLFP central committee has taken a decision regarding Minister Mervyn Silva, the parliamentarian charged that a similar claim was made last year and Mervyn Silva ended up getting a better post.
Similarly under the Rajapaksa rule no one connected to that party are punished for misdeeds, he said while pointing out that so far only the Chairman of the Mawanella Pradeshiya Sabha has been sentenced to death.
Mr Samaraweera alleged that even that PS chairman was sentenced to death only because he criticized the Rajapaksa government.
He further stated that a separate “workshop” will be needed to speak about the “lawlessness” of the Rajapaksa family.
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa a great king: Mervyn
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Attacks on Muslims continue unabated
[TamilNet, Friday, 21 June 2013, 00:11 GMT]The Muslims in Ki’n’niyaa have questioned the credibility of the ruling UPFA’s action in awarding chief minister portfolio to a Muslim politician in Ki’n’niyaa, Mr Najeeb Abdul Majeed, even while unleashing the notorious Special Task Force (STF) elite commandos on Muslim villagers from Kuddik-Karaichchi on Tuesday evening after a dispute between the SL police and Muslim villagers involved in transporting wood from a nearby forest. The STF personnel deployed had fired tear gas and opened fire threatening the villagers who protested and a tense situation prevails still in the area following the violent episode. The chief minister of the Eastern Province hails from Ki'n'niyaa. The STF was particular in isolating and targeting the Muslim youth during the clash, Muslim leaders in Ki'n'niyaa complain. Colombo has beefed up SL military presence following the episode.
A tense situation prevails in Ki'n'niyaa after the Special Task Force (STF) – organised under the Sri Lankan police – unleashed a vicious attack on Muslims transporting wood from a nearby forest.
The incident on Tuesday sparked off after the SL police rounded up the six bullock carts in which the Muslim villagers were transporting wood. The SL police arrested them and demanded them to surrender their licences. The bullock cart owners however had refused to handover the licences, leading to a brawl between both sides.
The incident took place in Kuddik-Karaichchi within the limits of China-Bay police division 20 km from the North of Trincomalee.
Following the incident, the STF were summoned to the area. Besides attacking the Muslims, the STF personnel have also reportedly attacked a Mosque and some shops in the area.
The bullock carts have been detained and those who travelled in the carts have also been arrested and detained in Ki’n’niyaa police station.
Meanwhile, large number of people gathered at the place of incident and raised slogans demanding that those arrested be released immediately. They also squatted on roads disrupting the traffic.
The tense situation was further aggravated when the police summoned the STF to dispel the crowds.
The STF tried to remove the people using strength but the people however remained strong in their opposition. Following this the STF personnel began attacking the people.
The assaulted people retaliated by throwing stones on the STF personnel. The increasing crowds also began surrounding the STF personnel.
The STF threatened that they would open fire if the people continued to advance and in an attempt to thwart the people opened fire into the skies.
Following this, more STF personnel assembled in the area and began to ruthlessly assault the people under the pretext of dispelling the crowds.
The STF also continued to fire into the skies and in the process destroyed a drinking-water vehicle affecting the distribution of water.
People began to run away amidst fire after the STF intensified its attacks. The STF however chased them down and attacked them. Muslim youth were nabbed and attacked. The STF commandos also destroyed some vehicles.
The streets of Ki’n’niyaa wore a deserted look after the brutal assault. Shops were shut down and people were hardly seen walking on the streets. Many of them chose to remain indoors.
After the SL Defence ministry of Colombo government was apprised of the incidents, the STF personnel were withdrawn from the area.
Leaders from Muslim Community and political representatives from Ki’n’niyaa held ‘negotiations’ with the Sri Lankan STF, Police and the SL military on the following day.
The unabashed attacks on Ki’n’niyaa Muslims have also made the people wonder whether the awarding of CM portfolio to a Muslim politician from the area was merely an act of deception by Colombo's ruling UPFA.
Two Contrasting Petitions, And An Attempt To Stimulate Consensus
By Rajiva Wijesinha -June 21, 2013
Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha MP
I have received recently two very different petitions, one from a body that calls itself the World Alliance for Peace in Sri Lanka, the other from a body that calls itself the Friday Forum. They present two very different points of view, the one asking that the 13th Amendment be abolished, the other that no changes be made to it.
President gives cold shoulder to Canada
Friday, 21 June 2013 
Angered by Canada’s decision not to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo this November, the President has refused to accept the credentials of the new Canadian High Commissioner for Sri Lanka, Shelly Whiting.
Although Shelly Whiting had arrived in the country three months ago, the External Affairs Ministry had not made arrangements for her to meet with wither the President or any other senior member of the Presidential Secretariat.
A senior External Affairs Ministry official when inquired said that the President has rejected several requests made by External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunathileka Amunugama to get an appointment for the new Canadian High Commissioner to get her confirmation. Whiting has returned to Canada following the undiplomatic actions of the President. She had returned to her country since the visa had expired in three months. She is to return to Sri Lanka next week. In the event the President continuously refuses to accept Whiting’s credentials, it could create a huge diplomatic row between the two countries. The official said that this was a diplomatically bad situation and said that even External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris’ actions during the German tour were in violation of diplomatic practices.
The Minister during a special news conference in Germany on the 17th had said that there were LTTE fronts still operating in Germany without taking the opportunity to thank the German government for defeating a resolution that was presented to the German parliament by a group of MPs supportive of the LTTE. Members of the European Union had met and discussed the false statement made by the Minister and expressed their displeasure to the Minister and the External Affairs Ministry.
Minister Peiris has responded by saying that his comments had been misquoted by the media.
We have published several photographs taken during Peiris’ German tour
Event Invitation: The 49th Open Forum Of The Centre For Poverty Analysis
June 21, 2013 |
The Centre for Poverty Analysis invites you to the 49th Open forum on poverty.
Making Sustainability the next metric: The post 2015 development agenda
To be held on 28th June, 2013 at 5 pm
at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI)
No. 100, Sri Lanka Foundation Mawatha, Colombo 07
The Forum will feature a panel that will discuss the sustainability in the development agenda:
Hon. Minister PataliChampikaRanawaka (pre-recorded interview),
Razina Bilgrami – Country Director, UNDP
Dileepa Witharana – Senior Lecturer, Open University
Priyangi Jayatunga – Senior Researcher, MIND Institute
From Merchant Prince to Akbar Brothers: Inayat Akbarally and the Bohras of Sri Lanka
Photography by Alefiya Akbarally and Kannan Arunasalam
Inayet Akbarally tells the remarkable story of his great grandfather Careemjee Jafferjee and how he became the first member of the Dawoodi Bohra community to set foot in Ceylon believed to be around 1830. A “Peterite” thorugh and through, he reflects on the days when where you went to school trumped ethnicity and even religion.
Lanka failed to address human trafficking
Friday, 21 Jun 2013
The 2013 Trafficking In Persons (TIP) report released by the US State Department has criticized Sri Lanka for failing to address issues of human trafficking and has placed Sri Lanka among Tier Two Watch list countries.The report asserts the Government of Sri Lanka has made limited progress to protect and prevent human trafficking in the last year, adding that law enforcement efforts to combat human trafficking were weak during the reported period. Sri Lanka does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking according to the report.
The report further notes, “Government employees’ complicity in trafficking offences remained a problem. Many recruitment agencies were run by politicians or were politically-connected. Some sub-agents cooperated with Sri Lankan officials to procure forged or modified documents, or real documents with false data, to facilitate travel abroad.” The report also goes on to say, “The government did not report any prosecutions of government employees for alleged complicity in trafficking-related offences during the reporting period.”
Tier Two countries are those that do not fully comply with the minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), but are making significant efforts to comply with those standards. A Tier Two country is placed on the Watch List, if the absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is significant while there is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking from the previous year.
The report has recommended the Sri Lankan Government to fully implement procedures to proactively identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations and refer them to care facilities and to strengthen the training of local and national government officials. It also calls on the government to expand the Bureau of Foreign Employment’s mandate to include the regulation of subagents.
“The government needs to promote safe and legal migration rather than imposing discriminatory policies that discourage migration or impose age restrictions on migrants,” the report noted. Speaking to Ceylon Today, Spokesman for the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), Mangala Randeniya, said, “We have made significant progress in combating human trafficking and I am surprised the report indicates limited progress on the part of the Government of Sri Lanka.” He also noted, “In 2009, the SLBFE Act was amended to increase its scope so as to take action against illegal recruitment agencies. Furthermore, several grassroots level awareness programmes have been conducted to educate the public on safety during migration and on human traffickers.”
Randeniya added, “In terms of prevention, the monitoring of agents is done to the greatest possible extent.” He also said discussions are currently underway to amend legislation that will require all sub-agents to be registered as per the recommendations in the report.
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