Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya briefs Lankans in US

Philip FERNANDO

Sri Lankan Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya recently expanded his outreach campaign with the Sri Lankan community in the United States with visits to Las Vegas and Los Angeles, detailing his meetings with Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim and other Sri Lankan ethnic groups throughout the U.S. to discuss reconciliation following the conclusion of the 25-year conflict.

He was optimistic about the growing unification efforts by the government. Ambassador Wickramasuriya noted that he has also begun an open dialogue with members of the Tamil Diaspora in the U.S.

Recent trips by Ambassador Wickramasuriya included visits to Boston and Chicago.

During the California trip, Ambassador Wickramasuriya met the local Sri Lankan community at the Sri Lankan Consulate in Los Angeles and briefed them on development initiatives by the Sri Lankan Government in the Northern and Eastern provinces. Consular General Ananda Wickramasinghe welcomed the Ambassador amidst a large gathering. The Ambassador said the country is in a new era of reconciliation after years of conflict.

He said he has visited the IDP welfare centres after the conflict and found that news stories about poor conditions in the centres had been exaggerated. Ambassador said he is confident within the next few months the Government will conclude the resettlement process.

He mentioned that there are adequate doctors and other healthcare providers in the welfare centres, where the government has ensured education and other essential needs are being met. The Government has taken initiatives to rehabilitate the former LTTE child soldiers and LTTE cadres and is providing each with education and livelihood. The Ambassador emphasized that the Government within the next few years will provide economic freedom to the people in the North and East with the establishment of free trade zones, vocational training centres and other economic benefits.

He requested the Sri Lankan Diaspora to extend their full cooperation to help Sri Lanka attract new business and investment from the US He also requested those who have let their citizenship lapse become dual citizens by investing in fixed deposits, savings accounts and treasury bonds and bills.

Those who are willing to invest $25,000 in NRFC accounts in Sri Lanka, he said, will be eligible to have their dual citizenship fee waived. When the conflict ended in May, there were about 287,000 internally displaced persons, or IDPs.