SL will be no go zone for int’l criminals - Defence Secy

Lanka first in S Asia to synchronise with Interpol database:

Sandasen MARASINGHE

The government is taking measures to prevent Sri Lanka becoming a hub of criminal activities with the country gaining popularity as a tourist destination in the new era of peace, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said yesterday.

He made this observation at a ceremony to mark the synchronisation between the Interpol database with the Sri Lanka Immigration Border Control System, achieving another record in the South Asian region to be the first country to synchronise with the Interpol database.

The ceremony was held at the Defence Ministry auditorium.

The Defence Secretary said the country’s tourism industry is booming rapidly with tourists visiting the country for several reasons including to invest and travel, with the dawn of peace.

“This could create ample room for criminals and terrorists to enter the country commit crimes and making it a hub of criminality,” he said.

Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said the government is taking measures to prevent this trend and this project was a great boon in that respect. With the synchronisation between Interpol and the Sri Lanka Immigration Border Control System yesterday, the travel documents of each person arriving or leaving the country will be checked on-line real-time with the 35 million database of the lost and stolen travel documents with Interpol, preventing terrorists and criminals entering the country using another party’s travel documents, said International Organisation for Migration Project Manager Shantha Kulasekara.

Controller IT and Border Management of the Immigration and Emigration Department M N Ranasinghe said if a Sri Lankan or any other person using a lost and stolen travel documents was checked abroad, the message will be conveyed to the CID in Sri Lanka promptly.

The International Organisation for Migration initiated this project under the direction of the Defence Ministry and completed within 15 months.