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Emigration Dept. probes illicit Lankan ‘deployment’ in Iraq, Afghanistan
View(s):By Leon Berenger
A special team has been deployed to investigate an alleged racket involving fake UAE entry visas used by persons taking up clandestine employment at US and NATO bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, Immigration and Emigration chief Chulananda Perera said yesterdy.
He said the team from the Dept’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU) has been instructed to complete their findings and report back within 10 days.
The investigations will revolve around a certain individual alleged to be the mastermind behind this multi-million rupee racket that has been in operation since 2004, Mr. Perera added.
The suspect is alleged to have recruited hundreds of Sri Lankans for placements in US and NATO bases, who had left the country on doctored exit visas, undetected for the past several years, and are transported to the bases after a transit stop in the UAE.
“We are working on information provided by a former confidante of the suspect, and are hopeful of making an early breakthrough,” Mr. Perera added.
It is also alleged that the suspect charged a fee between Rs 250,000 to Rs 300,000 from each prospective candidate.
Police assistance too would be sought sAccording to the head of the SLFEB’s Approval Division, Ms. Kalyani Herath, although there is no current ban for Sri Lankans to travel to both these countries, approval for work at the NATO bases is yet to be officially sanctioned.
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