In a foreign country No passports for Sri Lankans who apply for refugee status

(By Sujeeva Nivunhella in London)

The Sri Lankan government has decided to stop issuing passports, through its missions, to Sri Lankan nationals who have applied for refugee status in a foreign country. This directive has been enforced with immediate effect following a circular sent to all Sri Lankan missions overseas by the Controller of Immigration and Emigration, officials here said. It had become the practice amongst some Sri Lankans who arrive in a foreign country, particularly in Europe and the US, even through legal means to destroy their passports before claiming refugee status. "Political unrest in Sri Lanka" is the most common reason given for their wanting to stay back, these officials pointed out.

Earlier, Sri Lankan Tamils in particular capitalized on the war situation to apply for refugee status in large numbers in western countries and the majority of them were successful in winning their cases which allowed permanent residency in those countries. The normal practice in the UK is to allow the successful applicants to remain in the country indefinitely. They become qualified to apply for a British passport after one year. 

Most of these Sri Lankans who are allowed ‘indefinite stay’ seek new passports from the Sri Lankan High Commission in London to visit their near and dear ones back at home and return to the UK, an official said. "With the new directive in place, we will not be issuing any new passports to Sri Lankans who had applied for refugee status here", he explained. "However, the mission can provide them with a temporary travel document to visit Sri Lanka". He said that with the war over, people no longer need to apply for refugee status in a foreign country. Even at the time the war was raging, most of the Sri Lankan who fled to foreign countries were not refugees but economic migrants.