New U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka reiterates human rights, accountability her priorities

While stressing the need for enhanced economic corporation between the two nations, the new American ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung, who reached out to expatriates in the United States to a mixed group of Sinhalese, Tamis and Muslims told that her priority in Colombo during her tenure will be working with the Sri Lanka government on issues concerning human rights, reconciliation among nationalities and accountability for human rights abuses.

“These are issues that make broader partnership between our two countries”, and reminded the expatriates in this virtual meeting-session, “the United States has re-joined the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) in Geneva, and will play a bigger role to urge the Sri Lanka government to undertake concrete reforms on reconciliation, accountability and human rights in the forthcoming session.”

This virtual meeting-session that took place on Friday, February 11 was in fact jointly initiated by the U.S. Department of State and Ambassador-designate Julie Chung. The Department reached the California-based Sri Lanka Foundation to reach expatriates in many US States to participate in the discourse.

The Ambassador is expected to leave for Colombo end of next week to present her credentials to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

In response to Ms. Chung’s declaration that human rights, accountability and reconciliation would be her priority during her tenure in Colombo, retired Colonel of the Sri Lanka Army who successfully planned the liberation of Jaffna from the LTTE, in 1995, Lucky Rajasinghe said “it is our sincere wish as Sri Lankan American Citizens, to anticipate a clear road map from you Madam Ambassador in resolving some of the burning issues dragging the image and the functionality of Sri Lanka from an international perspective”.

Ambassador-designate Julie Chung received a clear understanding of what the Sri Lankan-American expatriates are engaged in to promote economic cooperation between the two nations and efforts the expatriates have taken to get Washington’s assistance to alleviate the CORVID-19 disaster in Sri Lanka. She said the U.S. donated 3.1 million vaccines and US$8 million worth of medical assistance. “The Year 2020 alone the U.S. Development Finance Corporation provided US$265 million to Sri Lanka’s small-medium entrepreneurs, and that the US has collaborated in helping Sri Lanka in her economic growth”, she said.

She entertained the dialogue with the expatriate community as she said she herself was an immigrant from Korea at age five, and pledged that she will continue to have discourses with Sri Lankan expatriates in the U.S. “I know the importance of the Diaspora”, she said.

She listened very carefully and made positive comments when the President of the newly inaugurated Sri Lanka-America Chamber of Commerce Sanje Sedera made his presentation to enhance trade, commerce and investments between the two nations.

The Chamber, which is America’s national organisation and based in the convention centre of the world, Las Vegas, in the State of Nevada, as told by President Sedera “is working in conjunction with the United States Department of Commerce’s Commercial Law Development programme to explore to find Sri Lankan entrepreneurs opportunities in trade shows  in the United States”.

Ambassador Julie Chung had a positive response when Mr. Sedera brought to her attention that “Sri Lankan  exporters  have  not  been consistently  exposed  to such trade  shows due  to economic  constraints and stringent  Visa process.  This initiative to be successful there has to be opportunities presented to the mid to large exporters  in Sri Lanka”.

He brought to the attention of the Ambassador that “the U.S. is facing an acute labour shortage in the fields of teaching and nursing.  Sri Lanka also has high number of skilled teachers and nurses who could fill these positions. Our  Chamber of Commerce  has started some initial discussions   with some  of the  universities in Sri Lanka to  create  the graduates  who would be qualified to   take  these jobs”.

One instance the Sri Lanka America Chamber  of  Commerce acted to bring the two nations’ active participation in the trade, commerce and investment, Mr. Sedera said, it has  had  several rounds  of discussions  with  the highest  ranking  officials  of  the Export Development Board of  Sri Lanka to  open  up  unexplored  avenues  to  exporters  in Sri Lanka.

It was revealed by Ms. Keshini Wijegoonaratne, the Director-Project Manager of the Sri Lanka Foundation based in Los Angeles and Lucky Rajasinghe, a leading expatriate social worker, in their successful completion to distribute medical equipment to Sri Lanka during the height of the COVID-19 a couple of months ago both in the South as well as the North of Sri Lanka.

While she noted the importance of Sri Lanka in the Indian-Ocean region, Ambassador-designate Julie Chung, at her testimony for confirmation at the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee reiterated “Sri Lanka is positioned in a strategic location at the heart of the Indian Ocean, and its critical ports with access to global maritime lanes and trading routes play a pivotal role in a free and open Indo-Pacific architecture. This reinforces the necessity for the United States to build constructive relationships with Sri Lanka, including with civil society, the private sector, and the Sri Lankan people”.