*Amb. Warnakulasuriya asks whether Lanka’s sovereignty has been subjugated to the British

Controversy surrounds Sri Lanka’s decision to authorise foreign embassies to interfere with the Department of Immigration and Emigration operations at the Bandaranaike International Airport.

Despite objections by a section of the officials, the government has allowed diplomatic representatives of several countries, including the UK, Germany, Canada and Italy, to check passengers leaving the airport.

An authoritative official source yesterday told The Island that nothing could be as ridiculous as allowing them to operate at the last boarding gate. Responding to our queries, he said that several years ago several embassies assigned Airline Liaison Officers (ALOs) to assist personnel manning airline counters. Their task had been to check the validity of a visa if the bearer of a particular passport aroused suspicions, he said. But recently they had received the blessings of the government to operate independently thereby causing serious problems. According to the official, there had been numerous instances of undue intervention by embassy personnel, particularly by a lady ALO representing the British High Commission in Colombo.

The official said that this was worse than the decision to finger print all passengers seeking the British visa as the British ALO had the power to interfere with passengers leaving for other countries.

Another official said that the deployment of ALOs was part of an overall strategy to prevent people leaving on fraudulent documentation.

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Rome Hemantha Warnakulasuriya recently brought what he called, the high handed action of the British representative, to the notice of Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama. Warnakulasuriya has urged Bogollagama to act swiftly and decisively to stop British interference in purely a domestic matter.

Warnakulasuriya said that many Sri Lankans working in Italy had been harassed by ALOs. He asserted that Sri Lankans working in other parts of the world, particularly in EU countries, too, could be affected by ALOs’ action.

A furious Warnakulasuriya has fired a letter to Bogollagama with copy to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohana and Sarath Gunaratne, Deputy Minister of Civil Aviation, seeking an immediate end to undue interference. The Ambassador said that his domestic aide E. A. Nishantha Kumara, bearer of official passport (OL 1942716) had been prevented from boarding UL 563 by the British official on February 22 this year. He said that the British diplomat had insisted that Kumara couldn’t be allowed to leave even after he produced his Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs identity card bearing the number 182892/106024. He said that this special pass allowed Sri Lankans to leave and enter Italy without obtaining visa. Although the Ambassador had explained this arrangement to the British official over the phone after Kumara sought his intervention, the British official had flatly refused. He said that he had warned that if Kumara was allowed on that flight, the Sri Lankan Airlines would have to pay a fine to Italy for carrying a passenger without a valid visa.

The Ambassador said that he brought to the notice of Pio Mariani, Italian Ambassador in Colombo. He quoted Pio as saying that this should be taken up with the Airport Authority which had allowed the British High Commission to check visas of passengers leaving Sri Lanka.

In his letter to Bogollagama, Warnakulasuriya said that if the British High Commission could prevent Sri Lankans travelling to another friendly country with valid visa one would wonder whether Sri Lanka’s sovereignty had been subjugated to the British.

He had reminded that the harassed people were those who contribute to Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange earnings.