LIFE ABROAD – Part 20:
TURBULENT TIMES
Caretaker at the Sri Lanka High Commission, Buluwela, finally retired
after rendering an extended service, with an added bonus of a few extra
years due to some problems experienced in appointing new staff to the
London Mission as the British Foreign Office did bring down the curtain
on Sri Lankan foreign office due to ‘non-compliance of basic
regulations’ where many diplomats as well as the Administrative Service
staff sent from Colombo began to abandon the ‘ship’ after their tour of
duty and sought employment elsewhere in London.
The situation turned into a chaotic state of affairs when the existed
diplomatic and administrative staff automatically became ‘fibrously’
rooted at the Mission (without being transferred according to the norms
of the Foreign Ministry regulations) when those who had finished their
contracts did not return to Colombo as expected.
Undoubtedly this caused an immense embarrassment to the Sri Lankan
government when the UK Foreign Office imposed a constraint on new
officials taking up duties at the Sri Lanka High Commission in London
until such time those officers who had completed their contracted period
were made to return back to Sri Lanka.
Bad experience
The complexity experienced by both the Sri Lankan government and the
British authorities at the time was that when diplomats were given leave
to enter the UK on ‘diplomatic passports’, no conditions were attached
at the port of entry as opposed to any normal visitor or student who was
subjected to various stipulations, especially restricting employment.
The diplomatic privileges included only a date stamp on their passport
at the port of entry with the word ‘embarked’.
There was no social stigma associated with the division of labour (at
least overtly) in the UK. In such a backdrop whether it was a High
Commissioner or any other diplomatic official, it did not matter what
they did for a living once they ‘walked out of the High Commission
office’ except the fact that those who were once ‘pretentious’ had hit
the floor with a thud and transformed into sober citizens!
Impish act
During such turbulent times the British Foreign Office started to
pick a bone with the Sri Lanka High Commission and tightened the clamps
on future diplomatic recruits to London temporarily.
An impish act by a Second Secretary (Consular) once managed to bring
the whole hornet’s nest upon the shoulders not only on the Sri Lankan
High Commissioner but on the Sri Lankan government as well by using
official government stationary to write a supporting letter to the Visa
Officer at the British High Commission in Colombo on February 14, 1990
sponsoring two of his brothers as ‘visitors’ with an assurance thus: “I
will be responsible for all their expenses and accommodation during
their stay in the United Kingdom” (sic).
Gladstone intervention
It was later considered as a blatant violation of the Public Service
Commission Regulations to use official government headed paper for
personal use, and the worst being signing officially as ‘Second
Secretary (Consular)’.
On May 9, 1991, D.A.S. Gladstone, British High Commissioner in
Colombo, wrote a personal letter to Dehsamanya Gen D.S. Attygalle, who
was the High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in London, which read: “My Dear
Sepal, I am afraid I have to bring to your attention to another visa
problem involving your Second Secretary (Consular) Mr. ......”.(sic)
“On March 13, 1990 we issued visas to Messrs....X and ..... Y, to
enable them to visit Mr. ....Z, their brother, for a short holiday. A
copy of his letter in support of the application is enclosed for ease of
reference. We have now learned that Mr. X has applied for political
asylum in the UK. Is there anything you can do”? With Kind Regards,
David (D.A.S. Gladstone, High Commissioner)”. (sic)
On July 23, 1993 V.C. Wallis at Protocol Department, Foreign and
Commonwealth Office, London SW1 2AH, wrote to the Acting High
Commissioner at 13, Hyde Park Gardens London W2, under Ref. TXA which
read as follows:
“Dear Mr. M............e, (sic)
“ Mr. .......................................... &.......... Mr.
............. ............. (sic)
“I write to seek your assistance about the above-named former members
of the High Commission’s staff”. (sic)
“I have reason to believe that they did not leave the United Kingdom
at the end of their appointments and remain in this country, in breach
of the immigration rules and the spirit of the Vienna Convention on
Diplomatic Relations”. (sic)
“You will no doubt agree that if they have become illegal immigrants,
with no right to live or work here, this would be a matter of some
embarrassment to your mission”. (sic)
“May I therefore ask your assistance in locating their present
whereabouts, with a view to establishing their right to remain here or
otherwise”. (sic) – sgd. V.C. Wallis, Protocol Department (DN02.130793).
(sic)
It was later revealed that the diplomatic officer concerned was
reprimanded after an enquiry by the Public Service Commission and
subsequently reinstated with compensation paid after intervention by a
“well known” Foreign Minister, upon his taking up reins as the Minister
of Foreign Affairs for the second time! Immediately the catch phrase,
‘How can you expect to find ivory in a dog's mouth’ became the topic of
conversation among Sri Lankan expatriates in the UK when this took
place.
Risky decisions
One of the drawbacks which the Foreign Ministry overlooked at the
time was believed to be for posting officers with young families on
overseas assignments. When such officials arrived in London their first
priority, as parents, had to find suitable schools and give their
children a ‘British Education’ which is understandable.
When their contracts came to an end and the children were either
studying for GCE ‘A’ levels or half way through their higher education
at British seats of learning such circumstances placed these officials
in a dilemma.
Naturally not a single parent would like to have ‘abandoned’ their
children in a foreign land on their own to so great an extent, even if
they were able to afford financially. This was thought to have been the
major factor for such a calamity by ‘forcing’ officials to vacate their
posts at the end of their contracts which in turn caused an extra burden
on themselves by having to forgo their pension rights once vacating
their posts from the government service.
When family units were sent abroad the government had already paid
for their air fares, baggage allowances etc., which became a waste of
money when they could not return home until such time (after a certain
period of time) they found a way of residing officially in the UK.
During this process a few locally recruited staff with a long service
record were automatically promoted to diplomatic status as 1st Secretary
(junior diplomatic post) and Protocol Officer etc., The situation also
opened up avenues for those Sri Lankans who were legally permitted to
work and live in the UK to join the High Commission staff as 'local
recruits'.
High Commission staff consisted of three categories. Head of the
Mission (High Commissioner) with senior diplomatic staff termed as 1st
2nd and 3rd Secretaries; Administrative staff recruited from Colombo
were known as 'Home based' and the Service staff (which included Sri
Lankans who lived in the UK and British Nationals ) locally recruited
from London.
For a long time local recruits were paid according to Sri Lankan
salary scales until at a later stage their contracts were linked to
British Civil Service (government) salary bands, at which point their
salaries were converted into rupee equivalent for the purpose of income
tax deductions on a monthly basis and huge sums were deducted as tax!
This kind of action created a certain amount of uneasiness among
locally recruited staff who took their case up with the Commissioner of
Inland Revenue in Colombo, sighting an example as to how a locally
recruited 'Secretary/Personal Assistant' had to pay 15 Pounds a month as
tax, out of her wage packet, as against an insignificant sum of Pounds
three deducted from the High Commissioner's pay (according to his Sri
Lankan rupee salary band)!
Although Sri Lankan diplomats' rupee salaries were paid in converted
Pound Sterling, they were compensated by various types of other
allowances and perks such as special entertainment allowances, housing
allowances etc. with many other perks such as duty free petrol, duty
free booze, cigarettes, free road tax on motor vehicles, tax free brand
new automobiles, tax free telephone charges, free television licences
etc.
Finally the dispute concerning the local recruits' tax deductions was
finally resolved to everyone's satisfaction with the personal
interference of the Commissioner of Income tax in Sri Lanka.
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