News
Marriage registrars want controversial ‘crime-free’ partner knot loosened
As the new circular requiring the ‘security clearance report’ for any Sri Lankan wanting to marry a foreigner came into effect from yesterday, registrars have urged the Government to amend it immediately and grant a three-month grace period to proceed with marriages for which a notice of marriage has been issued.
Many of them complained that they learnt of the rule late last month and by that time they had issued hundreds of notices of marriage.
There is uncertainty over all those scheduled marriages as the new circular became effective yesterday. Many couples are considering registering the marriage overseas.
Varathaluxmy Somasuriyasingham, a registrar of marriages at Nallur in Jaffna, received the new circular on December 24 and she had already issued the notice of marriages for at least six couples with partners from the Sri Lankan diaspora communities.
Most of those families have arrived for the year-end holidays after scheduling their loved ones’ registration ceremony in early January.
Ms Somasuriyasingham who is also the elected president of Registrars Collective in Jaffna told the Sunday Times, a memorandum has been handed this week through the Jaffna District Secretary seeking an urgent meeting with the President and the Prime Minister.
“While we respect the intentions behind issuing this circular, we need this circular amended in a way to allow us to carry out registration of marriages and grant a three-month period to continue marriages, for which notice of marriage has already been issued,” Ms Somasuriyasekaram said.
To get the Defence Ministry ‘security clearance report’, the foreign party has to submit an affidavit from the security authorities of his or her country within six months, declaring no involvement in criminal activities. Based on that certificate, the Registrar General will issue a permit to register the marriage. A self-declaration to confirm the health status of a foreign national is also required.
Under the new circular, only additional district registrars appointed to all Divisional Secretariats will be allowed to register such marriages after a licence is issued to the local party to be handed over to the district registrar.
In recent months, Maalai matrimony, an online portal assisting thousands to find their life partners among the Sri Lankan Tamil community in the country and abroad, recorded an increase in new profiles of individuals eager to get married abroad.
“Among them, females prefer to marry Sri Lankan, Tamil-origin partners in European countries and settle there. We are concerned that the new circular might pose extra challenges for those who are seeking partners in our diaspora community,” a matchmaker of the online portal told the Sunday Times.
Among some 56 proposals the online portal successfully matched and resulted in marriages last year alone, most of them came from the diaspora community as many youths preferred to leave the country considering the economic crisis here.
“It is a bit early to say how this new procedure will impact our matchmaking process, but definitely there are many who expressed their concerns with us and even some consider other options as well,” the online matchmaker said.
One of the alternatives considered by families who have fixed marriages before the circular came into effect is to go ahead with the registration in another country, preferably in India or Malaysia where they can marry and start the migration process, rather than waiting for the ‘security clearance report’ from the Defence Ministry of Sri Lanka.
Another prominent matchmaker in Jaffna said that registering marriages in another country is not new among Sri Lankan diaspora circles, particularly in the north, if either party failed to secure a permanent resident visa or faced any visa-related issues.
“But now, all of them (Sri Lankan origin individuals) who seek partners here will be forced to have their wedding in another country to avoid this unnecessary bureaucratic process. Many families have already started their wedding plans, too,” he said.
Soon after the new procedures emerged last week, criticisms on the basis that the circular is outright discriminatory and a threat to the universal human right to freely marry a person of choice were shared widely in social media platforms. Opposition parties condemned the move.
A complaint was also filed at the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) this week indicating that the purported requirements are illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional. The commission’s intervention is sought to not implement the circular.
In a written complaint, lawyer Thishya Weragoda noted that the purported requirement to obtain a ‘security clearance report’ to marry a foreigner would necessarily imply that the Government or any ministry would have a veto on the freedom of thought and conscience of persons to marry.
“A person marrying a foreigner in Sri Lanka might not be wanting to reside in Sri Lanka and engage in ‘drug trafficking’ or ‘money laundering’ as claimed. They may only wish to marry in Sri Lanka and reside overseas. Imposing ‘security screenings’ at the visa issuance stage is a less intrusive alternative to achieving aims and objectives of national security interests as opposed to determining the right of citizens to marry whomever they desire,” the written complaint stressed.
Noting news reports that foreigners marrying Sri Lankans require security clearance from the Ministry of Defence have raised eyebrows, former speaker Karu Jayasuriya also said the Government chose to close “a small loophole at the cost of subjecting the country to lose its image internationally’’.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Times learns that the Registrar General’s Department received at least half a dozen applications seeking a licence for the registration of marriage under the new circular this week.
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