Published: 14 August 2018

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Embassy of Sri Lanka Washington D.C.

ANNUAL SRI LANKAN FOOD FAIR – WASHINGTON BUDDHIST VIHARA

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2018 FROM 9.30 AM TO 3.00 PM

Please join us at the Annual Sri Lankan Food Fair organized by the Embassy of Sri Lanka

 on Sunday, August 19, 2018 from 9.30 am to 3.00 pm

 at the Washington Buddhist Vihara (5017 16^th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011)

 Homemade Sri Lankan food and beverages will be available for purchase.

 All proceeds from the event will be donated to charity.

 (For more details, please contact the Washington Buddhist Vihara at 202 723 0773 or the Embassy of Sri Lanka at 202 483 4025.)

 We look forward to seeing you on Sunday!

  Embassy of Sri Lanka

Washington D.C.

August 14, 2018

Published: 27 July 2018

Published: 05 July 2018

Sri Lanka retained its Tier 2 ranking in the US State Department Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for the second consecutive year. The 2018 Report which was released on 28 June 2018 can be accessed online at https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/

The annual Trafficking in Persons Report is prepared as per the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, as amended, which has authorized the establishment of the US State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to assist in the coordination of anti-trafficking efforts. The annual Report which assesses all countries is used by the US Government to engage foreign governments in dialogues to advance anti-trafficking reforms, combat trafficking and target resources on prevention, protection and prosecution programmes. Each country is placed onto one of three tiers based on the extent of the efforts by respective governments to comply with the “minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking” found in Section 108 of the TVPA.

From 2013 to 2016, Sri Lanka was placed in the Tier 2 Watch List for 4 successive years and upgraded to Tier 2 in 2017 in view of the proactive measures taken by the relevant agencies of government to combat trafficking. Classification of countries in this annual report of the State Department affects US assistance for countries with governments of countries on Tier 3 being subject to certain restrictions on US assistance as well as assistance from multilateral development banks.

The TIP report 2018 states that the Government of Sri Lanka demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period and therefore, Sri Lanka has been retained in Tier 2.

Sri Lanka recognizes and acknowledges the magnitude of the problem of human trafficking worldwide, undermining universal values and posing a threat to national security by encouraging and enriching transnational criminal as well as terrorist networks. Sri Lanka remains committed to working with the US and other bilateral partners as well as international organizations to combat this scourge locally and internationally.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

4 July 2018

Published: 04 July 2018

Message from the President of Sri Lanka to the President of the United States of America

His Excellency Donald J. Trump

President of the United States of America

Your Excellency,

As the United States of America celebrates its Independence Day on the 4^lh of July, I am joined by the Government and people of Sri Lanka, in congratulating you, the Government and the people of your great country.

Bilateral relations between the United States and Sri Lanka are nourished by our shared commitment to democratic values and fundamental freedoms, and have been nurtured by our peoples who have been at the forefront of strengthening bonds between our countries even prior to our two nations establishing diplomatic relations in 1948. As the United States and Sri Lanka mark 70 years of diplomatic relations this year, our strong partnership based on shared values and common objectives is all encompassing and well placed to grow ever stronger.

On this day of celebration, please accept, Excellency, my best wishes for your happiness and wellbeing, and for the continued progress and prosperity of the American people.

Maithripala Sirisena

President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Message from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka to the Secretary of State of the United States of America

The Honourable Michael R. Pompeo

Secretary of State of the United States of America

Your Excellency,

I am delighted to convey to you my warm congratulations and best wishes as the United States celebrates 242 years since the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Sri Lanka and the United States share bonds of friendship that date back over two centuries. Formal diplomatic relations between our two countries which span 70 years, fostered by a mutual commitment to democratic values and fundamental freedoms, have evolved in recent years into a strong partnership which is well placed to grow ever stronger.

Over the past three years, our partnership has deepened including through flagship U.S. programmes such as the Peace Corps and the Millennium Challenge Corporation contributing to strengthening the bond between our two countries.

I look forward to working with you, in partnership, in pursuit of common goals for mutual benefit of our countries and our peoples.

I wish you and your family a happy Fourth of July.

Tilak Marapana, P.C., M.P.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Published: 22 June 2018

The Department of Examinations of Sri Lanka has decided to offer the General Certificate of Education (Ordinary Level) Examination overseas to children of Sri Lankan expatriates, who wish to take the prescribed subjects of the examination or part thereof.  The examination will be facilitated through Sri Lanka diplomatic missions abroad.  Candidates are required to bear the related expenses.

Potential candidates are requested to reach out to this Embassy with the information requested in the attached form for submission to the Commissioner General of Examinations.

Please direct any questions or clarifications you may have in this regard to the Embassy at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Published: 21 June 2018

The attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been drawn to a list of names published online by the ITJP (International Truth and Justice Project). According to the ITJP, this list, which presently consists of 351 names and can be accessed at http://www.disappearance.itjpsl.com/#lang=english is of persons who are alleged to have disappeared while in the custody of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in May 2009.

The Office on Missing Persons (OMP) which has been established by an Act of Parliament (Act No. 14 of 2016 as amended by Act No. 09 of 2017)[1] is the permanent and independent entity in Sri Lanka that is vested with the tasks of, inter alia, searching and tracing of missing persons and clarifying the circumstances in which such persons went missing, and their fate; making recommendations to the relevant authorities towards reducing the incidents of missing persons; protecting the rights and interests of missing persons and their relatives; and identifying proper avenues of redress to which such missing persons or their relatives may have recourse.

Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urges and encourages anyone in Sri Lanka or overseas to kindly share with the Office on Missing Persons:

-any further/additional/detailed information pertaining to persons whose names have been listed by the ITJP and the circumstances under which they went missing;

-any other lists/information that may be available with anyone/ entity pertaining to any individuals including lists of security forces and police personnel, who may be considered to be missing, as defined by Section 27 of the Act.

Kindly direct any information available to:

Chairperson

Office on Missing Persons

Address: 34, Narahenpita Road, Nawala, Sri Lanka

E-mail: <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka

Colombo 1

20 June 2018

[1] http://www.parliament.lk/uploads/acts/gbills/english/6016.pdf

http://www.parliament.lk/uploads/acts/gbills/english/6045.pdf

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සත්‍යය සහ යුක්තිය පිළිබඳ ජාත්‍යන්තර ව්‍යාපෘතිය (International Truth and Justice Project) විසින් අන්තර්ජාලයෙහි පළ කරන ලද නම් ලැයිස්තුව සම්බන්ධයෙන් නිකුත් කරන ලද මාධ්‍ය  නිවේදනය

සත්‍යය සහ යුක්තිය පිළිබඳ ජාත්‍යන්තර ව්‍යාපෘතිය (International Truth and Justice Project) විසින් අන්තර්ජාලයෙහි පළ කරන ලද නම් ලැයිස්තුවක් කෙරෙහි විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශයේ අවධානය යොමු වී තිබේ. එම සංවිධානය පවසන ආකාරයට,  දැනට නම් 351 කින් සමන්විත සහ http://www.disappearance.itjpsl.com/#lang=english යන අන්තර්ජාල ලිපිනයෙන් ප්‍රවේශ විය හැකි මෙම ලැයිස්තුවට ඇතුළත් වනුයේ 2009 මැයි මාසයේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකා සන්නද්ධ හමුදා භාරයේ සිටියදී අතුරුදන් වී යැයි කියනු ලබන පුද්ගලයන්ය.

තවත් කාර්යයන් අතර, අතුරුදන් වූ පුද්ගලයන් සෙවීම, ඔවුන් එසේ අතුරුදන් වූ වාතාවරණයන් හා ඔවුන්ට අත් වූ ඉරණම පැහැදිලි කිරීම; පුද්ගලයන් අතුරුදන්වීමේ සිද්ධීන් අඩු කිරීම පිණිස අදාල බලධාරීන් වෙත නිර්දේශ ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම; අතුරුදන් වූ පුද්ගලයන්ගේ හා ඔවුන්ගේ ඥාතීන්ගේ අයිතිවාසිකම් සහ අභිලාෂයන් ආරක්ෂා කිරීම; සහ එවැනි අතුරුදන් වූ පුද්ගලයන්ට සහ ඔවුන්ගේ ඥාතීන්ට පිළියම් ලබාගැනීම සඳහා භාවිතා කළ හැකි යෝග්‍ය මාර්ග හඳුනා ගැනීම යන කාර්යයන් ඉටු කිරීමට නියම වූ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඇති නිත්‍ය සහ ස්වාධීන ආයතනය වනුයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු පනතකින් (2017 අංක 09 දරන පනතෙන් සංශෝධනය කරනු ලැබූ 2016 අංක 14 දරන පනත)[1] පිහිටුවනු ලැබ ඇති අතුරුදහන් වූ තැනැත්තන් පිළිබඳ කාර්යාලයයි.

එබැවින්, පහත සඳහන් තොරතුරු අතුරුදහන් වූ තැනැත්තන් පිළිබඳ කාර්යාලය වෙත දැනුම් දෙන ලෙස මෙරට හෝ විදේශවල වාසය කරන සියලු දෙනාගෙන්ම විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය කාරුණිකව ඉල්ලා සිටින අතර එසේ කිරීම දිරිමත්ද කරයි:

-සත්‍යය සහ යුක්තිය පිළිබඳ ජාත්‍යන්තර ව්‍යාපෘතිය විසින් ලැයිස්තු ගත කර ඇති පුද්ගලයන්ට සහ ඔවුන් අතුරුදන් වූ වාතාවරණයන්ට අදාල තවත්/වැඩිදුර/ සවිස්තරාත්මක ඕනෑම තොරතුරක්;

-පනතේ 27 වැනි වගන්තියෙන් නිර්වචනය කොට ඇති ආකාරයට අතුරුදන් වූයේ යැයි සැලකිය හැකි, ආරක්ෂක හමුදා සහ පොලිස් සාමාජිකයන්ද ඇතුළු පුද්ගලයන්ට අදාලව ඕනෑම පුද්ගලයකු/ ආයතනයක් සතුව ඇති වෙනත් ඕනෑම ලැයිස්තුවක්/ තොරතුරක්.

ඔබ සතුව ඇති ඕනෑම තොරතුරක් කරුණාකර පහත සඳහන් ලිපිනයට යොමු කරන්න :

සභාපති

අතුරුදහන් වූ තැනැත්තන් පිළිබඳ කාර්යාලය

ලිපිනය: 34, නාරාහේන්පිට පාර, නාවල, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව

විද්‍යුත් ලිපිනය: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය

කොළඹ 1

2018 ජූනි 20 වැනිදා

[1] http://www.parliament.lk/uploads/acts/gbills/sinhala/6016.pdf

 http://www.parliament.lk/uploads/acts/gbills/sinhala/6045.pdf

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சர்வதேச உண்மை மற்றும் நீதி திட்டத்தினால் (International Truth and Justice Project) இணையத்தில் வெளியிடப்பட்டிருந்த பெயர்களடங்கிய பட்டியல் தொடர்பான ஊடக வெளியீடு

சர்வதேச உண்மை மற்றும் நீதி திட்டத்தினால் இணையத்தில் வெளியிடப்பட்டிருந்த பெயர்களடங்கிய பட்டியல் ஒன்று வெளிநாட்டு அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சின் கவனத்தை ஈர்த்துள்ளது. சர்வதேச உண்மை மற்றும் நீதி திட்டத்திற்கு அமைவாக, தற்பொழுது 351 பெயர்களைக் கொண்டுள்ளதும், http://www.disappearance.itjpsl.com/#lang=tamil இன் வாயிலாக அணுகிக்கொள்ளக்கூடியதுமான இந்த பட்டியலில் இடம்பெற்றுள்ள பெயர்கள் 2009 மே மாதத்தில் இலங்கை ஆயுதப் படையினரின் காவலில் இருந்த போது காணாமலாக்கப்பட்டதாக கூறப்படும் நபர்களினுடையதாகும்.

பாராளுமன்ற சட்டம் ஒன்றினால் (2017ஆம் ஆண்டின் 09ஆம் இலக்க சட்டத்தினால் திருத்தப்பட்ட 2016ஆம் ஆண்டின் 14ஆம் இலக்க சட்டம்)[1]  தாபிக்கப்பட்டுள்ள காணாமல் போனோருக்கான அலுவலகமானது, ஏனையவற்றுக்கு மத்தியில், காணாமல் போன நபர்களை தேடுதல் மற்றும் கண்டறிதல் மற்றும் குறித்த நபர்கள் எந்த சந்தர்ப்பத்தில் காணாமல் ஆக்கப்பட்டார்கள் என்பதனை தெளிவுபடுத்துதல், மற்றும் அவர்களது தலைவிதி; காணாமல் போன நபர்களின் சம்பவங்களை குறைப்பதன் ஊடாக சம்பந்தப்பட்ட அதிகாரசபைகளுக்கு பரிந்துரைகளை மேற்கொள்ளுதல்; காணாமல் போன நபர்கள் மற்றும் அவர்களது உறவினர்களின் நலன்களை பாதுகாத்தல்; மற்றும் காணாமல் போன நபர்கள் அல்லது அவர்களது உறவினர்களுக்கு வழங்கப்படக்கூடிய முறையான நிவாரணங்களை அடையாளங்காணுதல் போன்ற செயற்பாடுகளுக்கான அதிகாரமுடைய இலங்கையிலுள்ள நிரந்தரமானதும், சுதந்திரமானதுமான அமைப்பு ஆகும்.

ஆகையால், பின்வருவன தொடர்பிலான தகவல்களை இலங்கையில் அல்லது வெளிநாட்டிலுள்ள
எவரேனும் அறிந்திருந்தால் காணாமல் போனோருக்கான அலுவலகத்துடன் பகிர்ந்து கொள்ளுமாறு 
வெளிநாட்டு அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சு வலியுறுத்தி, ஊக்குவிக்கின்றது:

• சர்வதேச உண்மை மற்றும் நீதி திட்டத்தினால் வெளியிடப்பட்டுள்ள பட்டியலிலுள்ள நபர்கள் தொடர்பான ஏதேனும் ஏனைய / மேலதிக / விரிவான தகவல்கள் மற்றும் அவர்கள் எவ்வாறான சந்தர்ப்பத்தில் காணாமலாக்கப்பட்டார்கள்;
• எவரிடமும் / எந்த அமைப்பிடமும் காணப்படும், இந்த சட்டத்தின் 27ஆம் பிரிவினால் விபரிக்கப்பட்டுள்ள வகையில் காணாமல் போயுள்ளதாக கருதப்படத்தக்க பாதுகாப்பு படையினர் மற்றும் பொலிஸார் உள்ளடங்கலான ஏதேனும் நபர்களின் வேறு ஏதேனும் பட்டியல்கள் / தகவல்கள்

ஏதேனும் தகவல்கள் காணப்படின், அவற்றை பின்வரும் வகையில் தெரியப்படுத்தவும்:

தலைவர்

காணாமல் போனோருக்கான அலுவலகம்

முகவரி: 34, நாராஹேன்பிட வீதி, நாவல, இலங்கை

மின்னஞ்சல்: <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>

இலங்கை வெளிநாட்டு அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சு

கொழும்பு 01

2018 ஜூன் 20

[1] http://www.parliament.lk/uploads/acts/gbills/tamil/6016.pdf

  http://www.parliament.lk/uploads/acts/gbills/tamil/6045.pdf