‘Diaspora’ driven UK travel advisory
Lucien RAJAKARUNANAYAKE
If only the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the UK could be
as objective or concerned about accuracy with regard to the situation
regarding the recent heavy flooding in large parts of Sri Lanka, in its
references to the prevalence of terrorism in the country, in its travel
advisories for UK visitors to Sri Lanka, it would stand out as exemplary
for accuracy of description.
In the latest advisory (January 20) the cautioning on the weather
situation, officially described by Sri Lanka as the worst natural
disaster since the tsunami of December 2004, the FCO states: “Recent
heavy rains have ceased and flooding has receded in Eastern districts of
Batticaloa, Ampara and Trincomalee.
Foreign travellers
The situation is gradually returning to normal and all main roads to
the East are passable. Areas in the Central Province such as Kandy,
Nuwara Eliya and Badulla have received significantly less rainfall over
the past few days. The risk of landslides remains but has reduced.
Please check forecasts before travelling”. That is a story truly told.
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Foreign and Commonwealth office, London. Picture courtesy:
Google |
The same attention to truth and accuracy is not seen in the section
on terrorism in the country. Under ‘Safety and Security - Terrorism’ the
advisory to UK travellers states: “There is a general threat from
terrorism in Sri Lanka. Attacks cannot be ruled out and could be
indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriate and foreign
travellers. See our Terrorism Abroad page.
Pro-LTTE groups
The conflict between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE, commonly known as ‘the Tamil Tigers’) ended in May
2009. Although the conflict is over, the LTTE are believed to retain
some capability to mount terrorist attacks such as grenade or explosive
device attacks and shootings. The Government has relaxed the State of
Emergency, under which it has extensive anti-terrorism powers but there
are still heightened levels of security (eg checkpoints, roadblocks)
throughout the country”.
The contrast is very clear. There is a barely concealed dichotomy in
the treatment of facts with a clear weightage to the aspect of
terrorism, based on a false reading, which gives the impression of
trying to frighten away UK citizens from visiting Sri Lanka. This is not
surprising, considering the uncertainty that prevails in the UK on its
foreign policy, especially vis-a-vis Sri Lanka, with the ConDem
coalition unable to chart out a course that is in the larger interests
of the United Kingdom.
This was evident in the situation that prevailed when the pro-LTTE
groups in the UK were given free rein to threaten the Oxford Union into
preventing the President of Sri Lanka from addressing its members, on
its own invitation. Although the UK Government washed its hands off the
ugly episode by stating it was entirely a private matter, it has still
not explained why it allowed pro-LTTE demonstrators, carrying the flag
of the banned terrorist organization to parade openly at Heathrow
Airport, near the hotel where President was lodged and also near the Sri
Lanka High Commission in London. Any explanation that it was respecting
Freedom of Expression, would not hold if the demonstrators were carrying
the flag of the Taliban and placards that heaped praise on Osama bin
Laden, or was led by some mullahs that are looked at with disfavour by
the UK establishment.
Terrorist attacks
The fact is that there is no general threat from terrorism in Sri
Lanka today and it is the height of exaggeration to state that: “Attacks
cannot be ruled out and could be indiscriminate, including in places
frequented by expatriate and foreign travellers”.
 Those
who prepared the advisory have been blissfully ignorant of the fact that
during a violent conflict that lasted 30 years, there were hardly any
incidents when foreigners were targeted or were accidental victims of
the often-indiscriminate violence that prevailed, in all instances
carried out by the LTTE.
The FCO makes a leap into unreality when it states that “although the
conflict is over, the LTTE are believed to retain some capability to
mount terrorist attacks such as grenade or explosive device attacks and
shootings.”
There has been no evidence of such developments since May 19, 2010.
To round up a tale of untruth the FCO refers to the existence of the
state of Emergency (albeit much relaxed) under which the State has
extensive anti-terrorism powers, with still heightened levels of
security (eg checkpoints, roadblocks) throughout the country.
Yes, there is a cautionary level of security, as would be needed in
any country that is emerging from such a prolonged and violent conflict.
But what the FCO and its advisors or informers have not noticed is the
sharp reduction in the number of checkpoints and that roadblocks are the
marked exception and not the rule in the country today.
What surprises one is that such advice to its citizens traveling to
Sri Lanka comes from a country that has its own special laws against
terrorism, maintains a constant surveillance of those suspected to be
plotting against the State in the UK and regularly hauls considerable
numbers of suspected terrorists before the courts.
What is being revealed today is that foreign policy of the UK, with
regard to Sri Lanka, is largely dependent on the links that key figures
in the FCO continue to have with the pro-LTTE Tamil groups in the UK. It
is these voices that whisper in the ear of Foreign Secretary William
Hague about Sri Lanka and seek to prevent implementing the Commerce and
Trade focused foreign policy that the UK has largely adopted today.
To be continued |
