Friday, 21 October 2011, 6:01

Canadian Tamil Congress gave the following reaction to on the new visas introduced by Sri Lankan government.

The Canadian Tamil Congress is not surprised at the imposition of Visa’s to Sri Lanka, including those who may have been born there. The Sri Lankan government continues to view the Tamil community, and in particular, those Tamils living abroad with suspicion, and seeks to impose restrictions on entry, and track the movement of Tamil diaspora members to the island. This is not in line with the commitments made by the Sri Lankan government to be more transparent and open in light of it’s stated goal of reconciliation, and in fact, it confirms the fears of the Tamil diaspora that they are not welcome to Sri Lanka. This will make it difficult for human rights activists, for example, from entering and viewing the deteriorating conditions for themselves. We just have to look at the deportation of the interim leader of the Liberal party, The Hon. Bob Rae, from Sri Lanka as one example of the effects of the new visa restrictions.

Please watch OMNI TV’s South Asian Edition News yesterday October 19th 2011 at the following weblink. This story appears around the 6 minute mark in Wednesday October 19th 2011 South Asian Edition news.

http://www2.omnitv.ca/