Financial Times

Businessmen harassed at the airport
Colombo to urge Hong Kong to ease travel restrictions
By Lashica Abeywickrama
A government-led delegation prepares for talks with Hong Kong immigration authorities this week aimed at relaxing travel formalities for Sri Lankans, particularly businessmen and leisure travelers, who have been harassed at the airport of the former British colony.

Travel to Hong Kong was as smooth as flying to Singapore where one gets a visa on arrival until August last year when Chinese authorities now administering the island state imposed visa restrictions. These visas are given in Colombo by the Chinese Embassy.

This includes visas even for passengers transiting in Hong Kong. Yet even though one gets an approved visa from the Chinese embassy, Sri Lankans including many businessmen have been subject to long interviews and questions by Hong Kong immigration officials to ascertain the reason for their visit. One of the country’s top garment industrialists said he was kept for three hours at the airport even though his contact made special arrangements to greet him.

Another Colombo businessman was questioned for hours even for personal details such as credit cards, etc. “We had a legitimate visa to prove our eligibility in touring Hong Kong, but we had to go through a lot of difficulties in entering the country,” he said.

One of the reasons for the stringent checks on Sri Lankans arriving in Hong Kong could be due to a large number of Sri Lankans overstaying their visas or arriving illegally. A travel industry analyst said a lot of Sri Lankans are reluctant to travel to Hong Kong due to the cumbersome process resulting in a decrease in the number of travellers to that country. This is also of concern to Cathy Pacific, that country’s national airline which is believed to have helped in arranging and organising the visit of the delegation to Hong Kong.
Passengers are also reluctant to transit in Hong Kong and now prefer Singapore or Malaysia for an onward destination.

The Sri Lankan delegation, flying to Hong Kong on February 10, will be led by Rohan Perera, Legal Advisor to the Foreign Ministry and will include representatives of the travel trade and JAAF (Joint Apparel Association Forum) whose members have also been affected by the visa process. The mission is as a result of a recent visit to Hong Kong by Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

In a separate development, Sri Lankan businessmen to China are also facing similar restrictions. One businessman planning a business visit to China said several requests for visas have been turned down and applicants asked to furnish more documents including an invitation from a business partner there. “It was never this tough to visit China before. I wonder what has happened to create this situation,” he said after his visa request was rejected on January 27.

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