COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: The Sri Lankan government has barred foreigners from visiting the country’s Northern Province without prior approval.
The decision has been taken due to national security concerns and amid reports of attempts to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the north to launch another phase of its struggle for a separate state.
In a media briefing on Wednesday, the military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said that the foreign passport holders who intend to travel to the former war zone in the Tamil-majority region will now have to inform the ministry of defense and urban development about the nature of their visit and the area they intend to visit and obtain ministry’s prior permission to do so.
“The decision has been taken to restrict foreigners’ visits to North following information received by government intelligence services that certain foreign nationals are engaged in spreading various opinions among different communities to incite public disturbance and conflicts among the civilians, thereby threatening the national security,” Wanigasooriya said.
