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Thursday, April 30, 2015
Sri Lanka’s emergency assistance to Nepal and return of exiled journalists
- - on 04/29/2015
Sri
Lankan government has announced that it had dispatched emergency
supplies and support personnel to Nepal a day after the devastating
earthquake and that there would be further materials and personnel in
the coming days[1].
The government also announced that Sri Lankans who had been in Nepal,
can come back in the same flight. The solidarity towards a neighbor in
distress and duty towards some Sri Lankan citizens is admirable.
Ever since the new President came into power, there have been public
statements inviting exiled journalists to return home. But what the
government has actually done to assist those who want to return is not
clear. In particular, it’s not clear what the government and the Sri
Lankan Embassy in Nepal had done to assist exiled journalists in Nepal
to return to Sri Lanka, especially to those who had made it clear they
want to return immediately after the new government came into power in
January. I have been in touch with three such journalists throughout
this period, till today. Despite numerous appeals by them and on behalf
of them by media freedom organizations, friends and colleagues, there
was no clear response within the 100 days of the new government. Appeals
to assist them to return intensified after the earthquake. The question
whether the journalists exiled in Nepal are treated in the same way as
other Sri Lankans was raised in parliament on 27th April,
with an allegation that the Sri Lankan Ambassador in Nepal was not in
favor of assisting exiled journalists to return to Sri Lanka, but the
Foreign Minister assured that steps have been taken to bring them back
within this week[2].
Although the Foreign Minister claimed that the reason for the delay is
the expiry of the validity of their passports, the journalists I have
been in touch with assured me that their passports are valid. I hope
that at least now, these commitments will result in concrete actions,
and they will be able to return home.
A particular challenge that exiled journalists / human rights defenders
(or any UNHCR recognized refugee) in Nepal face in returning home was to
pay “overstay visa fees” and associated penalties. Although they have
been recognized by UNHCR as refugees, Nepali government simply consider
them as tourists who overstayed their visas and thus, expect them to pay
the overstay visa fees. All three of them had to sacrifice their
careers, their income. I have known them in Sri Lankan when they were at
serious risk, visited them each time I visit Nepal, have been in
regular touch with them and know that they lived very difficult lives in
Sri Lanka and then in Nepal. When they went to Nepal, they were
dependent on adhoc financial support from friends and colleagues. They
are legally barred from being employed. They were later recognized as
refugees and received a meager allowance of less than USD 60 per person
per month from UNHCR. There is no way the three of them could pay about
USD 15,000 and also find costs of tickets and other expenses.
Three case studies of journalists / human rights defenders in Nepal waiting to return:
Each person in exile has a different story, some may even have abused
the situation to seek better lives overseas. But the stories of my three
friends can serve as indication of the large issues. Shantha
Wijesooriya is a Sri Lankan investigative journalist who had been
detained, threatened and the news websites he was working for have been
subjected an arson attack and Police raids. One of his former editor
lives in exiles due to death threats and his colleagues had been
arrested. He finally left the country after narrowly escaping an
abduction attempt in 2012. Jayampathy Bulathsinhala is a Sri Lankan
human rights defender who ran a printing press, publishing many human
rights and social justice oriented materials. He has been involved in
human rights and social justice work for decades. In 2010, the Sri
Lankan government enacted an anti democratic law strengthening
presidential powers and weakening independent institutions. In support
of opposition parties and civil society campaigns against this,
Jayampathy published a poster painting the then president as a dictator.
He, his wife Kumudu, and colleagues were arrested and when they tried
to file a fundamental rights case, they faced threats, and were
compelled to go into exile. Kumudu has also been working for a news
website while in exile. When Shantha escaped an abduction attempt and
fled the country, he was working for Lanka X News, a website run by the
United National Party (the the opposition party) and the present Foreign
Minister, Mr. Mangala Samaraweera, was reported as the Chief Executive
Officer / Coordinator[3].
Mr. Samaraweera had also accepted that the poster printed by Jayampathy
that led to his arrest and exile was done so on his instructions[4].
Even as I’m happy about the Sri Lankan government’s emergency support
towards Nepalese and to assist other Sri Lankan citizens who were in
Nepal to come home, I hope the Sri Lankan government (in Colombo and the
Embassy in Nepal) will also assist Shantha, Jayampathy and Kumudu to
come home, by taking into consideration the particular challenges they
face, their unique contributions to promoting democracy and human rights
in Sri Lanka and the sufferings they had undergone. In the short term
they may need basic needs like accommodation, food, medicine, clothing
and communication facilities for them to contact immediate relatives in
Sri Lanka. It has been reported that the Sri Lankan Prime Minister has
been in touch with his Nepali counterpart and the Acting Nepali
Ambassador in Colombo[5].
All foreign missions with their citizens in Nepal are likely to be in
touch with Nepalese authorities, including the Sri Lankan Ambassador in
Nepal. Undoubtedly, Nepali authorities are overwhelmed with the
emergency situation. But I hope the Sri Lankan government in Colombo and
the Embassy in Nepal will also bring up the situation of my three
friends (and others) in the conversations with Nepali authorities, work
out modalities, and offer any assistance needed, and facilitate their
long overdue return back to Sri Lanka soon.
I have focused this article only on three journalists / HRDs who I have
been in close touch with me, before they went into exile and till today.
But there are also human rights defenders and journalists in other
countries (and possibly even in Nepal) who have expressed interest to
return. I hope the Sri Lankan government will go beyond rhetoric and
seek more proactive ways to assist exiled journalists and human rights
defenders to return home.
[1] http://www.mea.gov.lk/index.php/en/media/media-releases/6059-sri-lanka-condoles-with-nepal-on-the-tragic-loss-of-life-and-damage-to-property-from-the-earthquake-and-dispatches-emergency-relief-assistance and http://www.news.lk/news/business/item/7367-second-sri-lanka-army-coningent-to-leave-for-nepal-today
