PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Sri Lanka: Tamils (30 October 2019)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what (a) meetings and (b) discussions officials from the UK High Commission in Sri Lanka have had with Tamil community protests on (i) the resettlement of military occupied land and (ii) relatives that disappeared after being taken into military custody.

Asked by:
Sarah Champion (Labour)

Officials from the British High Commission in Colombo regularly meet with Tamil community representatives in Sri Lanka to discuss issues such as land returns and missing persons, including meetings with representatives and families of the disappeared as recently as October 2019. During her visit to the north of Sri Lanka in October 2019, the British High Commissioner also met organisations and individuals active on these issues.

The British Government regularly discusses human rights and reconciliation with the Government of Sri Lanka, including through encouraging the implementation of UN Human Rights Council resolutions 30/1, 34/1 and 40/1. We firmly believe that this is the best framework for establishing truth and achieving justice and lasting reconciliation to ensure that all communities in Sri Lanka can live in peace

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Answered by:
Mrs Heather Wheeler (Conservative)
5 November 2019