Defence Ministry insists no travel restrictions on foreigners

The Defence Ministry today insisted that there is no travel restriction on foreigners visiting the North and East.

The Defence Ministry statement said that certain websites have attempted to mislead the public and the international?fora by misinterpreting a news article published in the official website of the Ministry of Defence of?Sri Lanka (www.defence.lk) on 30th October 2014 under the headline “Foreign Passport holders?traveling to the North”.

According to the Defence Ministry?the official website of the Defence Ministry was subjected to a technical upgrade recently?and all old news publications have been reappearing under a new modified date 03-03-2016. as the?technical change was carried out on that date. Certain web sites have taken advantage of this?technical glitch and have published news posts stating that the registration for Foreign Passport?holders traveling to the North was back in force and thereby have attempted to mislead the public.

“The decision to lift the travel restrictions imposed on foreign passport holders to the North
due to the security situations then (2014) was taken after considering the prevailing security situation
at the first Security Council Meeting of the New Government held under the patronage of His
Excellency the President Maithripala Sirisena on 16th January 2015,” the Defence Ministry said.

It said that the present Government has assured that any foreign passport holder travelling to Sri Lanka will have unhindered access to the North or any part of the country without any restrictions or prior
registrations. (Colombo Gazette)