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Foreign Ministry refutes claims made by Ambika Satkunanathan to the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights

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The Foreign Ministry on Friday noted with concern the numerous misleading statements contained in the testimony of the Chairperson of the Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust Ambika Satkunanathan, during an exchange of views on the situation of human and labour rights in Sri Lanka at the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights on 27 January, 2022.

The Ministry in a release said: Ms. Satkunanathan’s testimony completely ignores the progress made by the government of Sri Lanka on many fronts and creates doubts about the government’s intents and sincerity, particularly at a time when it is engaged in a long-standing cooperation with the UN human rights mechanisms and the UN Human Rights Council and is delivering on its commitment to address accountability and reconciliation through domestic processes and institutions.

The Ministry is disappointed that among the recommendations made by Ms. Satkunanathan is that the EU uses its leverage on GSP plus facility to exert pressure on the government on human rights. If Sri Lanka loses the EU GSP plus facility, particularly at a time when livelihoods of millions of Sri Lankans belonging to all communities are already affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting losses would exacerbate poverty and income inequality. Some of the worst affected sectors will be fisheries and agriculture which are among the key industries in the North and the Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka.

The Ministry also notes that the unfounded allegations about discrimination of ethnic communities in her testimony are reminiscent of LTTE propaganda that once stoked hatred among communities. In a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country such as Sri Lanka, such allegations need to be refuted in the interest of social harmony and to prevent the spread of dangerous fallacies about Sri Lanka in the international community.

The Ministry refutes Ms. Satkunanathan’s claims on ‘a culture of impunity’. The Ministry wishes to point out that the government is engaged in a long-standing cooperation with the UN human rights mechanisms as well as with the UN Human Rights Council. Sri Lanka is delivering on its commitment to address accountability and reconciliation through domestic processes and institutions. The government has been actively engaging the international community including the UNHRC’s Universal Periodic Review and Special Procedures to address the various concerns that have been raised. This includes the allegations of systematic torture. The Government has made it clear that additional reforms will be undertaken to further strengthen rule of law, access to justice, and accountability. It remains open to a constructive discussion on suggestions and further steps to address shortcomings.

The Ministry notes that Ms. Satkunanathan makes references to ‘Sinhala Buddhist nationalism’ and ‘militarisation’ as driving the actions of the Government. She makes vague claims of racial profiling in the absence of any concrete evidence of discrimination against minorities. In reply, the Ministry wishes to point out that Sri Lanka is a secular country and all citizens, irrespective of their religion or ethnicity share the same fundamental rights under the Constitution. Furthermore, Sri Lanka ensures access to public services such as free education and free health facilities without any discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or religion. In fact, even during the military conflict when large areas of the Northern and the Eastern Provinces were under the control of the LTTE, the government continued with the provision of such public services to the areas so that the civilians, who were mainly ethnic Tamils and Muslims, would not be affected.

Ms. Satkunanathan points to the Presidential Task Force on Archaeology which she accuses of being a tool for land grabbing and changing the demographics of minority-heavy areas and the Presidential Task Force on “One-Country One Law” which she accuses of stoking ethnic hatred and violence. After the war, as displaced persons returned to the Northern and the Eastern Provinces, there has been an increase in unauthorized encroachment into forest areas inevitably leading to destruction of archaeological sites. So, there is an urgent need to take concrete measures in order to protect these sites. There is no truth in the claims that the Presidential Task Force on Archaeology is a pretext for land grabbing and introducing the Sinhalese to these areas. It may be noted that there is representation of all ethnic communities in this Task Force. With respect to the Presidential Task Force on “One Country One Law,” it should be noted that it is expected to play an advisory role only. The Task Force’s recommendations will be first studied by the Justice Ministry, then the Cabinet of Ministers and finally the Parliament following the democratic traditions.

With regard to her allegations that the Northern and Eastern Provinces are ‘occupied’ by the military, it should be pointed out that the the majority (more than 92%) of the private lands occupied by the military at the end of the conflict in year 2009 have already been released to legitimate land owned civilians. A mechanism is already in place to expedite the process of releasing remaining private lands.

It is particularly disappointing to see Ms. Satkunanathan’s allegations that ‘civic space’ is shrinking and that informal and extra-legal processes are used to curtail the activities of civil society organizations. The Ministry asserts that government views NGOs as partners and not as adversaries. The government acknowledges the constructive contributions made by civil Society organisations in the work of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) and Sustainable Development Council of Sri Lanka. It has also introduced certain policy changes to facilitate the work of NGOs such as bringing the NGO Secretariat under the Foreign Ministry. It must be reiterated that apart from operating routine security networks in the interest of national security, particularly after the devastating Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, the Security Forces and intelligence agencies are not engaged in monitoring or targeting any specific group of people in the country.

The Ministry refutes Ms. Satkunanathan’s claims of extra-judicial killings and arrests under the pretext of a “war and drugs.” With regard to the PTA, it should be noted that the government is in the process of amending the Act, which is now at the final stage and the international community is being briefed on that process.

Ms. Satkunanathan also alleges that the government is exploiting its friendship with China to “undermine the efforts of states that call for accountability for human rights violations” in Sri Lanka. On the contrary, mindful of strategic competition that is increasing in the Indo-Pacific region, our main foreign policy directive is to maintain neutrality, in line with the non-aligned foreign policy we have adopted since Independence. The Ministry wishes to point out that apart from China, Sri Lanka has entered into partnerships with several countries such as India and Japan to fill gaps in national infrastructure development. Such partnerships have no bearing on Sri Lanka’s commitment to address accountability and reconciliation through domestic processes and institutions.


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New Digitalization Policy draft reviewed

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2025/12/13

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A meeting between representatives of UNICEF and Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya was held on the 10th  of December at the Prime Minister’s Office.

During the discussion, an initial review of the new digitalization policy draft was conducted, and it was emphasized that the new digital policy must be formulated to align with the ongoing education reforms.

The Prime Minister highlighted that the digital policy should be developed in a way that supports all five core pillars of the current education reforms, including curriculum reform, infrastructure development, and administrative restructuring.

It was further noted that the current draft is primarily focused on curriculum-related matters, and the digital policy should be structured to influence the overall education reform process.

Extensive discussions were also held on the importance of digital literacy, NEMIS, the provision of digital infrastructure, and minimizing the existing digital divide.

Attention was also drawn to the gaps in the current teacher training mechanisms , and the Prime Minister stressed the need to reduce paper usage.

The meeting was attended by the UNICEF representatives Dr. Emma Brigham and Deborah Wyburn, Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputhanthri, Additional Secretary A.B.M. Ashraff, and several other officials.

[Prime Minister’s Media Division]

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The government is taking steps to streamline trade facilitation, customs processes, investment approvals, and improving export facilities – Prime Minister

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2025/12/13

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Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the government is taking steps to strengthen local exporters by making trade facilitation, customs procedures, and investment approvals more efficient, and by improving export services.

The Prime Minister made these remarks while addressing the 27th Presidential Export Awards 2024/25 ceremony organized by the Ministry of Industries and Industrial Development together with the Export Development Board.

At this ceremony, which was held to recognize the best exporters of Sri Lanka for the financial year 2024/2025, a total of 107 awards including 15 overall awards and 92 sectoral awards for products and services were presented. Merit awards were also presented to eligible sectors based on applicants’ performance and their contribution to national economic development. Awardees were selected on several criteria such as export market diversification, job creation, growth in export revenue, repatriation of export income, environmental sustainability, institutional social responsibility, and value addition.

Institutions that demonstrated outstanding performance in the export sector were presented with the prestigious Presidential Export Awards for the year under the patronage of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and Minister of Industries and Industrial Development, Mr. Sunil Hadunnetti.

Further expressing her views, the Prime Minister stated:

“The Presidential Awards Ceremony for exporters reminds us that Sri Lanka’s progress depends not merely on policies or administration, but on the ability to produce, to create value, and to compete internationally.

Over the past year, we faced numerous challenges. As a result, global markets and supply chains were disrupted. Economic uncertainty prevailed. We faced natural disasters. Despite this, many exporters had to adjust to these changes, reorganize production processes, diversify customers, and adopt digital technologies in order to remain competitive in the market.

The impact of the Ditwah cyclone also affected several industries within the export sector. Production facilities, storage facilities, and transportation routes in affected areas were damaged. Production chains and delivery schedules were disrupted.

Under such a difficult situation, some exporters experienced significant setbacks while trying to meet international export demands.

The government is taking steps to support exporters by assessing the damages they suffered due to the emergency situation, restoring their operations, and helping them recover. The government is also working to strengthen resilience against future natural disasters and to rebuild affected areas in a way that minimizes the risk of similar situations arising again.

Sri Lanka is currently undergoing a new economic transformation. For many years, instability, policy inconsistencies, and administrative inefficiencies hindered the progress of the country. This weakened investor confidence and made it difficult for businesses to plan ahead.

However, the present government is committed to governance based on stability, transparency, and accountability. This is not a short-term approach. It is a long-term process to ensure that the country does not fall back into uncertainty.

For this purpose, the government is implementing strong fiscal management, predictable policies, clear and simplified regulations, anti-corruption measures, major institutional reforms, measures that allow businesses to plan ahead, instill investor confidence, minimize unnecessary barriers, and support the development of the private sector.

For a long time, we relied heavily on international loans to sustain national expenditures. However, this is not leading a path toward a stable future. Our progress depends on our ability to earn through trade, innovation, and global engagement.

Your ability to take Sri Lankan expertise and creativity to the world is a strength for the entire nation. The government is ready to extend the necessary support to achieve this.

We understand that issues such as policy inconsistencies, delays that increase operational costs, limited access to competitive financing, gaps in infrastructure and technology, weaknesses in trade facilitation, and slow progress in expanding market access have impacted you. I would like to assure you that the government is directly addressing these challenges.

The focus of the government has drawn to build efficient, transparent, and predictable systems, streamlining trade facilitation, customs processes, and investment approvals, improving export facilities, and minimizing the gap between local businesses and global markets.”

This event was attended by Ministers Kumara Jayakody, Ramalingam Chandrasekaran, Sunil Kumara Gamage; Deputy Ministers Chathuranga Abesingha, Eranga Weerarathna, Arun Hemachandra, Nishantha Jayaweera, Muditha Hansaka Wijayamuni; Governor of the Central Bank Nandalal Weerasinghe; Secretary to the Ministry of Industries and Industrial Development Tilaka Jayasundara; Chairman of the Export Development Board Mangala Wijesinghe, along with ambassadors, foreign delegates, exporters, and a large gathering.

[Prime Minister’s Media Division]

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Big fossil fuel companies are responsible for climate crisis but poor countries like Sri Lanka are battered by it – Greenpeace South Asia

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3 hours ago

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2025/12/13

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Greenpeace South Asia yesterday sounded a renewed alarm after a rapid analysis by World Weather Attribution (WWA) confirmed that human-induced climate change significantly intensified the extreme rainfall that battered Sri Lanka during Cyclone Ditwah and fuelled severe flooding across the Malacca Strait.

Greenpeace South Asia said that according to the study, the five-day rainfall extremes, like those unleashed by Ditwah, are now 28% to 160% more intense due to the 1.3°C of global warming already driven by greenhouse-gas emissions. Warmer sea surface temperatures in the North Indian Ocean — 0.2°C above the 1991–2020 average — supplied the additional energy that powered the cyclone’s rapid strengthening and heavy downpours.

WWA researchers stressed that Sri Lanka’s existing vulnerabilities magnified the disaster’s impact. Steep highlands funnelled water into densely populated floodplains, while unplanned urbanisation in flood-prone areas heightened exposure. Breakdowns in ICT systems meant early warnings failed to reach many, leaving low-income and marginalised communities to absorb the worst of the cascading disruptions to transport, electricity and essential services.

Avinash Chanchal, Deputy Director of Greenpeace South Asia, said the human toll was worsened by forces far beyond the island’s control.”During Cyclone Ditwah, we saw people coming together — neighbours rescuing neighbours, volunteers working through the night,” he said. “But while ordinary Sri Lankans showed up for each other, the real culprits were nowhere to be seen. The WWA study confirms what we already knew: this disaster was intensified by the carbon pollution of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies. They caused the crisis, yet it’s the frontline communities who pay the price.”

Greenpeace warned that events like Ditwah signal a dangerous new normal for the region.”With increasing incidents, like Cyclone Ditwah, it is clear that extreme weather events are no longer isolated,” said Kumar. “Communities in South Asia will continue to struggle to cope with such conditions.”

The organisation urged countries most responsible for historic emissions to respond decisively. “This is high time that developed-country governments stop pretending this is normal,” Greenpeace said. “They must immediately cut emissions, phase out fossil fuels, and deliver real finance for loss and damage. Anything less is a betrayal of the people already living on the frontlines of climate breakdown.”

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