“On arrival visa facility to Sri Lanka will be suspended from 30th September except for Singapore and Maldives -Immigration Official” was the SMS news alert that came on mobile phones on 27th August 2010 at 5.30 pm.
“Decision to suspend on arrival visa facility to Lanka temporarily postponed pending discussions-Immigration controller” came on mobiles almost 2 hours after the first SMS.
The news broadcasts that followed cited the reason behind this issue as, non-granting of visas to Sri Lankans in a reciprocal manner by countries other than Singapore and Maldives has led to this decision.
No one can argue on the justification by the Department of Immigration in this regard on their standpoint; as a sovereign nation Sri Lankans should get equally treated as much as Sri Lanka’s visa policy to other nationalities; the modality based on bilateral relationships countries tend to work on. However in reality it does not happen this way world over, but at times within countries regionally grouped for economic, cultural or any other cooperation such as ASEAN, European Union and Gulf Corporation Council (GCC).
Though the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation or SAARC is a similar association there is no reciprocal visa issuance policy on arrival amongst its members either. Though the ease of entry for SAARC nationals has been mentioned whenever a summit has been held, for obvious reasons the members cannot ignore concerns such as terrorism, human smuggling and other illegal trades that could increase with a liberalized visa policy.
According to the official website of the Department of Immigration & Emigration, Sri Lanka currently grants on arrival tourist visas of 30 day duration without a charge to nationals of 79 countries including some SAARC members such as India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal but excluding Afghanistan.
Whilst Indian nationals get visa on arrival in Sri Lanka it is not the same way for Sri Lankans in return. The hospitality extended to Sri Lankans by our big brother can be seen when passing the Indian High Commission at Colombo 3; from about 4.30 in the morning people waiting in queue to submit their visa applications similar to the ticket queue at Madras railway station!
There are many underlying reasons for anomalies in issuance of visas to Sri Lankans by other countries. Prior to the separatist war that commenced 26 years back, Sri Lankans had easier access to many countries, sometimes even with visa on arrival facilit. The war drastically changed this situation.
ost western countries changed their stance and took a stricter control to prevent many economic migrants under the pretext of the war ending up in their countries. However the LTTE exploited this situation taking advantage of the kindness of wealthy countries and cleverly planted their agents in most of these embassies to get many people across as refugees thus creating a large Diaspora in order to exploit them and extract as much funds possible to keep their war machinery rolling. These LTTE agents with or without the knowledge of the embassy higher-ups openly discriminated against Sinhalese and Muslims by blocking visas to visit these countries for legitimate and justifiable reasons.
At occasions visas were granted after many refusals or after serious grilling at these visa sections in a somewhat humiliating manner. Having to go through the shaky process we Sri Lankans also had to pay dearly to obtain these precious visas to enter the western heavens whilst Sri Lanka does not charge a single cent or a humiliating process to grant visa to visitors to enter our soil. In this respect the Immigration Controller’s stance is without error.
However Sri Lanka needs tourists. With its vast tourism potential, the industry being identified as a forerunner for country’s development, it plays a leading role to earn foreign exchange to take the country to the next level of growth as the Central Bank envisages ($4000 per capita income).
In such a scenario Sri Lanka has adopted a very healthy visa policy for tourists arriving in this country without any obstruction whatsoever. This adds to the great hospitality this nation has been famous for centuries and even now extending similar welcome through a great visa facility to its visitors. We have to understand that we are unable to take a ‘tit for tat’ attitude in our modern times sacrificing the values we have cherished for generations for the sake of arrogance or false pride. The need for intelligence to surface beyond emotion is what can bring success to any one or a country in this cyber era.
There are also other reasons why certain countries do not reciprocate Sri Lankans on visa policy. This is purely due to Sri Lanka requesting some countries not to grant visa to Sri Lankans especially on arrival as it was necessary to prevent LTTE members entering these countries to obtain military ware. Though this situation has changed dramatically Sri Lanka has not yet requested these countries to reverse the stand. This situation continues especially in South East Asia that had wars and military-ware were available through illegal processes.
Prior to upsetting the current advantage the tourists to Sri Lanka enjoy by entering the country without a hassle, Sri Lanka must take a diplomatic approach firstly to withdraw our own request as above and suggest other countries to grant reciprocal respect to Sri Lankans entering their countries. This is the job of the Ministry of External Affairs.
Just because the VIPs and other high rankers could get visa to any country without any difficulty, they must not ignore the need of their other countrymen in this regard.
For the golden era the country looks forward to under Mahinda Chinthanaya, it is necessary for government agencies to work cohesively on policies and clear obstacles that could otherwise hamper expected growth. In this scenario Department of Immigration,Tourism & Foreign affairs need to work in unison than unilaterally.
Looking at some of our competitor destinations, Thailand grants on arrival visas to nationals from 42 countries. No prior visa is required to enter the Maldives for any national. India granted on arrival visa facility to five countries recently and was expecting to extend it to another 11 countries. This decision is based on its efforts to boost tourism. Indonesia issues visa on arrival to nationals of 63 countries. It seems in the near future more countries are going to liberalize their visa policies with the aim of promoting tourism.
If, visa on arrival facility is to be curbed authorities must first look into the facilities the Sri Lankan consulates in other countries currently have to issue visas to meet the increased demand that is going to be created. Without infrastructure such as staff, software to issue online facilities etc, our missions abroad will find it extremely difficult to handle requests causing much delay that could indirectly invite tourists to go elsewhere.
It must not be forgotten that there is also a segment of tourists that takes last minute travel. They are mostly undecided or wait to grab bargains offered. They fly-out within a few hours of confirmation of a tour package. Visa on arrival makes it possible for such travelers to fill in the unsold hotel rooms or guesthouses that could otherwise remain vacant in a destination.
Sri Lanka seems to be missing a revenue opportunity by not charging for entry. Under the current tourism boom the country enjoys, the country is in a position to charge a reasonable visa fee that could increase revenue of the country. For example $25 to 30 per visa or whatever is fair will not kill the industry but will be still much below the $40 to 50 paid even by budget travelers to Far East countries. However tinkering with the present liberty of hassle-free VISA ON ARRIVAL facility could create a greater negative impact!
(The writer is a well-known hotel industry personality presently based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Was a former President of Ceylon Hotel School Graduate’s Association and Kandy Hotelier’s Association. He could be reached at kumarsenaratne@gmail.com). |
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