“It is in the national interest to save civilian lives facing death within Sri Lanka’s EEZ”

In an urgent letter sent on Friday (09) to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the National Shoora Council (NSC) has urged the President to uphold the humanitarian principle that the ‘territorial sea is a boundary for ‘exercising sovereignty’ and not a boundary limiting ‘humanitarian help’.

NSC has urged the President that the Iranian vessels stranded South of Galle, within Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), are said to be facing acute shortages of water, food and medicine, according to credible sources, and require official government search and rescue operations, and possible medical attention.

On board are civilian seafarers and workers who are nationals of Iran, India, Bangladesh and several other neighbouring countries. The Iranian civilian vessels are unable to return to the home destination owing to the continued naval blockade and the unilateral sanctions announced by Donald Trump, President of the United States, measures that carry no endorsement or authority of the United Nations or of the UN Security Council.

It is in the national interest to save civilian lives facing death within Sri Lanka’s EEZ.

The NSC letter has been signed by NSC President M M Zuhair, PC, and General Secretary Rashid M Imthiyaz, Attorney-at-Law, and copied to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Secretary Defence and Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy.

NSC’s request to the President states, “We note with grave humanitarian concern the stated position that no supplies will be provided while these vessels remain beyond the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea. The Government has made no effort to facilitate or encourage Sri Lankan shipping agents, ship chandlers or private companies to officially deliver basic provisions. We submit that this position is not consistent with Sri Lanka’s obligations under international law, nor with the humanitarian traditions of our nation,” NSC has sought immediate official assistance to the seafarers and workers.

• Obligations as a Member State of the United Nations: The UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council have repeatedly expressed concern at unilateral coercive measures that obstruct basic human requirements such as access to food and medicine. Security Council Resolution 2664 (2022) itself protects humanitarian assistance even within UN sanctions regimes. Most significantly even United States sanctions practice, exempts food and medicine from the US sanctions.

• Obligations under the Law of the Sea: Article 98 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which applies in the EEZ through Article 58(2), requires every coastal State to maintain an adequate and effective search and rescue service,”regardless of the nationality or status of such a person or the circumstances in which that person is found”

• Obligations under International Human Rights Law: As a State party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Sri Lanka must take reasonable measures to protect the right to life (Article 6). The UN Human Rights Committee has affirmed that this duty extends to rescue at sea and to persons outside a State’s territory whose lives are directly and foreseeably affected.

• Obligations under International Humanitarian Law and Neutrality: Neutrality forbids military or commercial support to a belligerent State; it never forbids feeding civilians. As the International Court of Justice held in Corfu Channel (1949), “elementary considerations of humanity” bind all States, and in Nicaragua (1986) it confirmed that strictly humanitarian aid can never be unlawful intervention. Sri Lanka is a neutral State and a party to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949.

• Sri Lanka’s Own Practice: In March 2026 Sri Lanka rescued survivors of IRIS Dena in international waters and escorted IRIS Booshehr from the EEZ to harbour, which the Sri Lankan President described as a humanitarian responsibility. That conduct was accepted as correct in law and was widely welcomed. Withholding water, food and medicine from civilian seafarers today would be inconsistent with that example and with Article 27(15) of our Constitution, which directs the State to foster respect for international law and treaty obligations.

• NSC’s humble requests:

(a) uphold the humanitarian principle that the territorial sea is a boundary for exercising sovereignty and not a boundary for limiting humanitarian assistance.

(b) direct MRCC Colombo, the Sri Lanka Navy and Coast Guard, with the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society and the ICRC, to assess needs and deliver drinking water, food and essential medicine as an urgent humanitarian priority, and to evacuate for immediate treatment the sick and the injured;

(c) issue clear guidance and assurance to Sri Lankan shipping agents, ship chandlers and private companies that the supply of purely humanitarian provisions is lawful and encouraged, distinct from bunkering, repairs, cargo or other commercial services;

(d) engage the Governments of Iran, India, Bangladesh and other States of nationality, and the flag States, to secure provisioning, crew welfare and repatriation; and

(e) adopt a transparent standing policy, notified through diplomatic channels, so that humanitarian relief at sea is never again held hostage to unilateral measures