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Top FAO official, hundreds of others turned away at Omanthai
A top United Nations official was turned away at the Omanthai checkpoint this week as the Defence Ministry started strictly enforcing a requirement that prior approval is needed for foreign passport holders to travel to the north. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Country Representative, Beth Crawford, was on her way to Kilinochchi on Wednesday when she was turned back.
Northern Province Agriculture Minister P. Iyngaranesan said he was also invited for the event for which the FAO Country Representative was invited to mark World Food Day, but he was told that Ms. Crawford had not been given permission to proceed beyond Omanthai.
Meanwhile foreign countries upgraded their travel advisories, warning their citizens about the new requirement of obtaining Defence Ministry approval to travel to the north. This came as hundreds of tourists and Sri Lankan expatriates were prevented from travelling to the north during the past week.
The British Government on Friday reviewed its travel advisory on Sri Lanka, informing its citizens of the new requirement if they wished to travel to the north of Sri Lanka. The Sunday Times last week exclusively reported that Defence Ministry approval was required for foreign passport holders to travel beyond Omanthai. The restriction coincided with President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to the north.
On Sunday, two Japanese tourists who were traveling north in a car were told they could not proceed. On Friday a Sri Lankan attached to an international non-governmental organisation was told that his wife, a foreigner, holding a resident visa would not be able to proceed to the north. Some of those turned away said they were unaware of the new Defence Ministry requirement.
Hundreds of hotel bookings, mainly by Sri Lankan expatriates visiting their families, were cancelled.
The army has been deployed to check all vehicles and also trains travelling to the north while private airline operators have also been informed about the requirement.