The Government will not provide visas to any foreignerto attendconferences or meetings with Government officials in November except to those attending the scheduled events of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the Ministry of External Affairs said.
The decision was communicated to all Lankan missions and to the Department of Immigration and Emigration, the Ministry said.
Ministry Secretary Karunathilake Amunugama told the Daily Mirror that it was in this context that entry to Sri Lanka was denied to participants of an International Bar Association Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) high-level delegation which includes the United Nations (UN) Gabriela Knaulthe Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers and Param Cumaraswami the first UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.
He said the Ministry had not been notified regarding the organising of the event.
“It is the general practice to inform the External Affairs Ministry of the host country’s conference division about the plans to host such an event and I don’t think that was done with regard to this event” he said.(HafeelFarisz)
DM
