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Responding to reports that a US diplomat had refused PCR testing upon his arrival at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Namal Rajapaksa, former parliamentarian and the son of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, took to twitter to voice his objection.

"Reports regarding a US diplomat refusing PCR tests at the BIA is so disappointing. Vienna Convention or not, the world's in the midst of a global pandemic & what we need more than ever is cooperation & respect of one another's national frameworks which are put in place to save lives," he said.

However, according to the 'Sunday Morning', the US diplomat was kept for four hours at the BIA and was released after discussing with the Secretary to the President Dr. PB Jayasundara and Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha.

Close coordination with Ministry of Foreign Relations

Meanwhile, spokesperson for the US Embassy Nancy VanHorn when contacted by 'Ada Derana' noted that US diplomatic staff adhere carefully to Sri Lankan COVID-19 guidelines, including quarantine restrictions, in close coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Relations.

VanHorn said that the arrival of US diplomatic staff to Sri Lanka also complies with the norms and procedures outlined in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, just as it applies to arrival of Sri Lankan and other diplomatic staff to the United States.

Furthermore, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on June 04 had instructed to carry out PCR tests for COVID-19 on passengers at the airport upon arrival to Sri Lanka, and to direct them to a separate area until the results are released, before following the immigration procedure.

Sri Lanka reported its 11th COVID-19 death on Monday (June 1) morning.

Through Diplomatic Notes on 11 and 14 May 2020, prior to their eventual departure from Kuwait on two Kuwait Airways flights on 19 May, the Sri Lanka embassy in Kuwait had requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait to conduct PCR tests on those being repatriated.

However, the embassy was informed that this would not be possible but assured that no passenger with coronavirus symptoms would be allowed to board the aircraft. It had also been stated that PCR tests had not been done on any of the returnees from other countries leaving Kuwait, Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry revealed.

Taking stock of the developments concerning those repatriated from Kuwait, it was noted that of the 466 returnees, 379 were those benefiting from the amnesty who had surrendered to the camps between 21-25 April and had been awaiting repatriation. 87 were those from Kuwaiti detention centres and prisons.

The tourists came to see the magical waterfalls and mountain views of the lowland jungle and rainforest. But then the pandemic hit, and they were stranded in Sri Lanka.

When flights were canceled and the airports shut down, Darshana Ratnayake came to the rescue.

Ratnayake, a cafe owner in Ella, a former colonial hill station in Sri Lankan tea country, organized free food and shelter for dozens of stranded tourists.

“We were totally blown away,” said Alex Degmetich, a 31-year-old American cruise line entertainment director.

“It’s pretty remarkable,” he said. “Coming from Western society, where nothing is really given to us and we have to pay for everything which is fine. But here, locals providing us — tourists — free food and accommodation, is really humbling.”

The Sri Lankan government imposed a nationwide curfew on March 20 to curb the spread of the virus, sealing off entire regions of the Indian Ocean island nation. Degmetich was among 40 tourists from 11 countries stranded in Ella, 200 kilometers (120 miles) east of the capital, Colombo.

Ella’s famous treks tend to draw a young backpacker crowd, and Darshana knew they’d soon be out of money, and the small bed-and-breakfast lodges out of food.

He was right: Many of the tourists had just enough money to pay for the trip, and broken supply chains meant the lodges were running low on provisions.

Darshana established his Chill Cafe as a juice bar with two tables 13 years ago. The business has grown to a full restaurant and boutique hotel with 72 employees.

Just after the curfew was imposed, Darshana prepared a list of those staying in lodges and began boxed dinner deliveries. And he convinced lodge owners to let their guests stay on for free.

“Our livelihood depends on tourism. We must help tourists when they are in trouble. Money isn’t everything. We must help and share at difficult times like this,” he said.

He said he also donated 5 million Sri Lankan rupees ($27,000) to tour guides who lost their income when tourism came to a standstill.

Sri Lanka will reimpose selective lockdown restrictions from Sunday to restrict large gatherings after recording its biggest daily surge in coronavirus infections — most found in citizens repatriated last week from Kuwait. The island nation on Tuesday lifted a shutdown on the capital and a neighboring district, two weeks after easing it in other parts of the nation. But after more than 250 returnees from Kuwait were found to be infected with coronavirus, authorities decided to impose lockdowns on days when crowds were likely to form — including the planned funeral of a popular minister. The health ministry said that out of 460 Sri Lankans who returned from Kuwait this week, some 252 had tested positive for coronavirus. All the returnees were being held in quarantine.

Officials said the lockdown will apply on Sunday (31), the day of the funeral of tea plantation trade union leader and government minister Arumugam Thondaman, who died Tuesday. Tens of thousands of mourners from his Ceylon Workers Congress party had been expected to attend.

It will then be lifted until Thursday, when it will be imposed again for two days to coincide with a Buddhist holiday. Under lockdown restrictions, no-one is allowed to leave home unless they are involved in essential services. Officials said new cases of coronavirus were also found at a navy camp outside Colombo. Some 771 sailors and their immediate family members have so far tested positive from the facility, out of a nationwide total of 1,469 cases.

Ten people have died from the virus, including a woman who returned from Kuwait last week. Officials said they were scaling back repatriations in order not to overwhelm facilities. “It is not easy to increase quarantine capacity overnight,” government spokesman Bandula Gunawardana told reporters.

“We are also building hospital capacity to bring back more Sri Lankans who are stranded abroad,” he said.

Some 41,000 of around 1.5 million Sri Lankans employed abroad have registered with authorities asking to return home. (AFP)

Dr. Varatharajah, who is now treating Covid-19 patients in the United States where he fled for his safety, identified Suresh Sallay as the military intelligence officer responsible for his torture and who coerced and prepared him to give false testimony in a staged news conference in Colombo where he and other doctors were forced to deny the extent of civilian casualties in the war.

“Colonel Suresh threatened us all with many years’ imprisonment… Our families were also threatened,” stated the doctor, who says Suresh made it clear he was acting on the orders of Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was the powerful secretary of defence at the time.

In addition to threats, Dr. Varatharajah alleges Suresh Sallay used as leverage the fact that he needed essential surgery on his arm which was very badly injured in the war to compel him to participate in the news conference against his will. The delay in allowing the doctor to have the surgery caused permanent residual damage to his hand in the form of pain, sensory issues and loss of fine motor movement required by a surgeon.

The Tamil doctors who stayed in the war zone to treat casualties were recognised at the time by the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders as fulfilling an essential role during the war providing vital information to the world’s news media. This role made them targets when the war ended. On 8 July 2009, the doctors including Dr. Varatharajah were forced to lie in a news conference and were then bizarrly rewarded by their handlers with a surreal trip to eat at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant before being returned to their cells.

US leaked telexes acknowledged at the time that most international observers doubted the veracity of the doctors’ “confessions”. A telex published by Wikileaks said the doctors had told an embassy contact that they had been pressured to give the press conference and had been “heavily coached for the press conference, given specific lines to say, and even practiced with several members of the local media beforehand”. In addition the telex reported that the doctors “said they were visited and questioned several times by the Secretary of Defense while in custody”.  

Absurdly the doctors were instructed to say at the news conference that there were only up to 650 deaths in the last five months of the war even though the Government itself later admitted the death toll was higher. Indeed a mere count of photographs of corpses would easily exceed that number, let alone the UN’s meticulously cross checked casualty estimates up until April 2009. As US diplomatic telexes commented at the time, the Government of Sri Lanka appeared “to be continuing its efforts to downplay the extent of civilian suffering and deaths during the last weeks and days of the war”. Diplomats at the time worried the doctors, when finally released, were at risk of abduction or extrajudicial killing.  

In addition, Suresh Sallay was summoned to appear in court in 2016 in connection with the investigation into the 2009 murder of the Sunday Leader editor, Lasantha Wickrematunge. Sallay’s top aide was reportedly picked out as a suspect in the Lasantha case in an identification parade in 2016 while a second suspect, Kandegedara Piyawansa, was kept on Sallay’s personal staff.

He has also been summoned to court in connection with the disappearance of cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda in 2010 whom police found was abducted and detained by Military Intelligence. There were allegations raised in the Sri Lankan press that Suresh Sallay had attempted to help the suspects obtain bail by getting the state counsel removed in the  case. Reports at the time said the Criminal Investigation Department of the Sri Lankan police accused Suresh Sallay of not cooperating with their investigations, with the result that civil society groups urged he be replaced as Military Intelligence Director.

Last week, the Sri Lankan President appointed Prasanna de Alwis as the new Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), who is another close ally of the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa also alleged to be complicit in torture. Alwis too was questioned regarding the murder of journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge after Suresh Sallay’s staffer, Kandegedara Piyawansa, made a statement in open court in 2016 alleging that Alwis had tried to influence him into implicating the former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka in the journalist’s assassination, with the promise of being made a state witness and given overseas employment.

What we are seeing is a complex web of alleged perpetrators who have spent years in the security services protecting each another now being promoted to the highest office by the President,” said Ms Sooka. “Impunity is now so deeply embedded that it’s impossible to talk of any kind of institutional reform.”

More than twenty trade unions in Sri Lanka have heavily criticized the government for neglecting its duty by not bringing back tens of thousands of workers stranded in the Middle East amid the Covid-19 scare.

The trade unions have highlighted that Kuwait alone has 19,000 workers who are forced to live under worsening conditions after their visa had expired. They remind that it is the duty of the government them home.

“A formal process should be initiated to bring the workers stranded in the middle east to the country and the government avoiding taking such action by claiming lack of facilities is disgusting,” said a joint statement by the 22 trade unions.

The government has announced that about 41,000 Sri Lankans abroad have expressed their willingness to return to Sri Lanka.

“H.E the President has instructed to pay special attention to the Sri Lankans in the Middle East and the Maldives in regard to repatriation to Sri Lanka in future. However, we have to inform that, they have to be repatriated systematically,” said co cabinet spokesman Dr. Ramesh Pathirana a week ago.

Sri Lanka will soon begin sending its workers back overseas as it further eases its COVID-19 measures and host countries start reopening their borders.

The estimated number of overseas Sri Lankan workers is 1.5 million and 1.2 million of these are in the Middle East, according to an official from the Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE).

“The island had halted the process on March 13 due to the COVID-19 outbreak,” the bureau’s acting general manager, W.M.V Wansekera, told Arab News. “We will soon prepare to send them abroad with the opening of airports in the host countries.”

He hoped that the country would soon return to normality and once again be able to export its workforce, which is responsible for an estimated $7 billion in remittances every year.

The majority of the 1.2 million Sri Lankan workers in the Middle East - 80 percent - are stationed in Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar.

On May 26 the bureau sent a batch of 145 workers to Hong Kong – far lower than the 15,000 Lankan workers sent abroad on average every month – after they were stranded in the country during their annual vacation due to the lockdown, Jagath Batugedera, the bureau’s assistant general manager, told Arab News.

The director general of health services, Dr. Anil Jasinghe, said that his ministry had been able to keep the disease under control from April 30 and that zero cases had been recorded in the civilian population.

There were a few cases of infection in the Sri Lankan navy and 450 new cases among workers who had come back from Kuwait. As of Sunday a total of 1,620 diagnosed cases were reported, with 801 recoveries and 10 deaths.

Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Ariyasingha told Arab News that more than 38,983 workers in 143 countries had expressed an interest to return home to Sri Lanka, based on information gathered through the “Contact Sri Lanka” web portal from the Ministry of Foreign Relations.

Expatriates who spoke to Arab News said they were happy to be overseas. Mohammed Ali, an accountant working at a private firm in Riyadh, said Sri Lankan workers were “satisfied” with the new conditions laid out by the Kingdom.

“We have been staying here during good times, and we also like to stay in these trying times too,” he told Arab News. He added that, while there had been a 25 percent reduction in salary, workers were advised to only work six hours. He called this an “acceptable move” and said another “good thing” was that there had been no retrenchment of workers due to the coronavirus crisis.

Expatriate Mohammed Risqi, who holds an executive position in a Kuwaiti establishment, said that people wished to continue with their jobs during the global crisis.

“Those who are staying here illegally or have lost their regular jobs are keen to go home because staying in Kuwait is a waste of time,” he said.

(Source: Arab News)

The Finance Ministry is now preparing another 3-month Vote on Account commencing from June 2020, the third for the year, to raise the necessary finances from the Consolidated Fund, Treasury Secretary S.R Attygalle said.

The money will be used for uninterrupted government services, COVID-19 eradication activities and holding of Parliamentary elections.

There is special provision given under existing laws to withdraw money under the warrant of the President when the budget for the new financial year is not presented or the elections are underway and when a caretaker government is in place,he disclosed.

This procedure is being followed under the present unforeseen circumstance for the second time during the current financial year; he said adding that in a similar manner two Votes on Accounts were presented in 2010 as well.

Authorisation of the President will be given for expenditure from the Consolidated Fund pending approval of the new Parliament, he disclosed.

This will be in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (3) of Article 150 of the Constitution.

Mr. Attygalle noted that income has come down in April due to the lock down of economic activity while revenue collection of relevant authorities dwindled to a very low level.

Revenue collection of Excise Department and Motor Traffic Department came to a standstill while non tax income was marginal last month.

He noted that income and expenditure estimates of the new Vote on Account have not been finalised as yet.

According to provisional estimates of the proposed, new Vote on Account, a total provision of around Rs. 1.2 to 1.4 trillion will be provided for government expenditure comprising both recurrent and capital expenditures.

Indian Navy ship INS Jalashwa will sail from Colombo Port today to bring back 700 stranded Indians under the second phase of Operation ''Samudra Setu'' as a part of the "Vande Bharat" mission.

The vessel reached Colombo Port this morning and will depart with passengers to Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu. It will subsequently repatriate another 700 personnel from Male in the Maldives to Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, according to the Indian Navy.

Catering to the present requirements of maintaining social distancing and health protocols the ship is divided specifically into three zones-- red, orange and green.

Commander Gaurav Durgapal, Executive Officer on INS Jalashwa told ANI: "The guidelines for safety against COVID-19 and the protocols for the same are being promulgated by the naval headquarters and the commands respectively."

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has requested India to provide a special USD 1.1 billion currency swap facility to boost the country''s draining foreign exchange reserves in view of the economic slowdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The President's Office said that the new request is in addition to the USD 400 million amount Sri Lanka has sought from the Indian government under the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) framework.

The Sri Lankan President made the request during his telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, it said.

Modi discussed the situation arising out of the COVID-19 crisis with Rajapaksa and said that India will continue to support “our close maritime neighbour†in dealing with the pandemic and its economic impact.

The two leaders agreed to accelerate Indian-assisted development projects in the country and also strengthen investment links.

Rajapaksa''s office said: “If the government of India could provide USD 1.1 billion special SWAP facility to top up USD 400 million under the SAARC facility, it would enormously help Sri Lanka in dealing with our foreign exchange issues.

Sri Lanka had previously asked India for a USD 400 million foreign exchange swap under the SAARC arrangements.

Rajapaksa also asked the prime minister to expedite investments in Colombo port's east terminal.

According to President's media division, Rajapaksa asked Modi to "direct those responsible from India''s side to expedite construction of the east terminal of the Colombo port as soon as possible."

Facing issues in its foreign exchange during the coronavirus pandemic, Sri Lanka has taken drastic measures to keep its foreign reserves and currency stability. Import restrictions announced are meant to stop the flow of foreign reserves.

The Opposition has accused the government of printing money to create liquidity in markets.

India has sent four consignments of essential life-saving medicines and medical supplies weighing over 25 tonnes to Sri Lanka in the last few weeks as a goodwill gesture. PTI

Sri Lanka plans to reopen its tourism sector on August 1 by allowing only small groups of visitors to begin with, a tourism official said on Sunday.

Kimali Fernando, chairperson of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), a government body, denied a report in the local Sunday Times that said the sector would reopen in mid-June.

A limited number of small groups from around the world would be allowed to visit from August and stay in approved five-star hotels that have put strict safety measures in place, Fernando said.

He confirmed that tourists will be required to carry a COVID-19-free certificate issued either by their governments or a reputed agency, as reported by the Sunday Times which quoted Sri Lanka's Tourism Ministry Secretary S. Hettiaarachchi. Tourists would also need to wait on arrival at the airport for coronavirus testing, while individual travelers will still not be allowed to enter the country.

The country attracted around 2 million tourists last year and the sector contributes around 11 percent to the nation's gross domestic product.

President Rajapaksa discussed the proposals at a meeting with representatives of the tourism industry this month, Fernando said. The main tourist season typically begins in around November.

If the government approves the plan, Bandaranaike International Airport and Mattala International Airport, which have been closed under coronavirus restrictions, would partially reopen. Testing facilities would be set up at the airports and private hospitals are expected to provide assistance to tourists as part of the plans, Fernando said.

Popular sites such as the Yala national park, Udawalawe, Arugam Bay, Trincomalee and some beach areas would be among those open for tourists, whose temperatures would be monitored daily, he added.

As of Sunday, Sri Lanka has so far reported 1,633 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths.

The vocational training program targeting 5,000 prison inmates that was launched in February at the Welikada Prison will be carried out even amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the Avant Garde Group said.

The "project on prison inmate rehabilitation through technical skills development for better social integration and employability", the brainchild of Avant Garde Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi, was proposed to the government early this year with the intention of combating the drug menace and minimizing the number of crimes being committed in the country.

"The main aim of the project was to rehabilitate inmates through technical skills development and the assurance of gainful employment locally and overseas. The endeavour was aimed at minimizing crime in the country and to prevent individuals from ruining their lives due to impulsive acts. In turn, their contributions could be used for the greater prosperity and development of the country," the Avant Garde Group said.

Despite the global setback suffered due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the difficulties in continuing with a programme of this magnitude, Avant Garde reiterated that they were "prepared to overcome any challenge to move forward with the project for the development and prosperity of our motherland."

5000 loaves of bread!

During the last 45 days when the people in the country were badly affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, Avant Garde together with the Prisons Department launched a pilot project at the Welikada Prison where the inmates participated in a programme to bake 5,000 loaves of bread each day to be distributed free of charge among the poor and destitute.

"The success of the pilot project has further strengthened our “Project to eliminate the drug menace and other social ills through the rehabilitation of prison inmates by developing technical skills,” the Avant Garde Group said.