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The Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland QC undertaking her first official visit to  Sri Lanka from 01-04 August, engaged in wide ranging discussions with the Prime Minister, Speaker and many other important cabinet Ministers in collaborating with Sri Lanka for a broader partnership on sustainable ocean development, open trade and trade facilitation, climate change, and social development through sports.

She hailed Sri Lanka stepping forward to become a champion country in the Commonwealth Blue Charter and the initiative taken to lead a commonwealth action group on conservation of mangroves to work together to manage and protect our oceans.

Reflecting on the fact that 60% of the commonwealth population was youth, she invited Sri Lanka to give leadership to a project in the region particularly in harnessing youth engagement in the development process through sports.  “Our ‘Peace at the Crease’ brings together men and women, young and old, and people from all faiths and those of none to face some of the most challenging issues of today’ the Secretary- General said suggesting that the cricket could be a pedal for community engagement and social development.  She also encouraged Sri Lanka to participate further in the commonwealth innovation hub and share our expertise with the member countries in utilizing our synergies for scientific development.

Elaborating on the Commonwealth’s Climate Finance Access Hub, the Secretary General spoke of the expertise developed which will help countries overcome difficulties on climate financing, and make successful applications to the international funds that address climate change. The Commonwealth member nations were encouraged to access this facility in the event of processing applications to draw from financing mechanisms such as the Green Fund - for projects to help people adapt to climate change and mitigate its effect.

The Commonwealth Secretariat under its democracy and good governance initiatives afforded technical assistance to Sri Lanka in many fronts. The Secretary General congratulated the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka for securing ‘A’ accreditation in full compliance with the Paris Principles at the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).

In a press statement during the visit, she credited President Maithripala Sirisena for initiating the Constitutional reform process in 2015 and noted that by strengthening the process to appoint independent commissions, including the Human Rights Commission the President has worked towards enhancing transparency and accountability of the good governance process.

In espousing the commonwealth values, Sri Lanka’s contribution towards the Small States Trade Financial Facility which was jointly setup by India, Mauritius, Malta and Sri Lanka was noted with appreciation as the Commonwealth Small States will have access to US $ 300 million of incremental trade finance over a three year period from this programme.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe while acknowledging the Secretariat’s technical support extended to Sri Lanka in many fronts stated that “Sri Lanka will continue to spearhead the journey to build the country’s reputation and engage in trade relations and work towards securing a place for Sri Lanka in the international arena.

The Secretary-General sharing the Commonwealth Toolkits on several focused areas inter alia, Governance and Accountability, Sustainable Development Goals implementation, Climate Change, Legal etc, highlighted the importance of having Toolkits to share and learn the best- practices among the Commonwealth countries.  Sri Lanka agreed to look into the possibility of pioneering a toolkit for implementation which would enable its further development to suit the commonwealth member country requirements.

Concluding her 4 day stay, the Secretary-General visited the mangrove restoration sites in Kalpitiya and Pambala and encouraged Sri Lanka to further engage with the commonwealth through the Blue Charter and sharing of knowledge in protecting the ocean from the effects of climate change, pollution and over-fishing which will affect one third of the world’s national coastal waters, helping to sustain livelihoods and ecosystems globally. The Secretary General commended Sri Lanka on its project under the Queens Commonwealth Canopy initiative at Namalwatte, Trincomalee, and the particular focus given for restoration of an area devastated by conflict, having a positive    impact on the lives of the local community surrounding this area.

This visit has paved the way for Sri Lanka to work with the Commonwealth more closely on the agreed outcome of the Summit concluded in April 2018 in the UK based on fairness, prosperity and a sustainable and secure agenda in a collaborative spirit of the member nations. Sri Lanka will also host the Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting in 2019.

Sri Lanka is a founding member of the modern Commonwealth which has 53 member countries and operates facilitating co-operation mainly in the areas of ; economic, social and sustainable development; Governance and Peace; Trade, Oceans and Natural Resources.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo.

Press release dated 09 August 2018,Department of Government Information with regard to the launching of the "Ahanna" programme, which aims to promote reconciliation and mutual trust among communities.  This programme, initiated by the Ministry of Finance & Mass Media and the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms (SCRM), will be implemented island-wide.

The videos of the programmes held in Dehiwala and Panadura on 08 and 09 August 2018, could be viewed via the following links and are available on the Ministry's Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW0YOnOnAxU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2us1xFetVaw&t=15s

The attention of this Ministry has been drawn to news reports regarding textile imports from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to several countries including Sri Lanka during the period October 2017 and March 2018.

The Ministry wishes to clarify that the information contained in the news reports in relation to Sri Lanka are erroneous.

In keeping with Sri Lanka’s international obligations as a member of the United Nations, the Government of Sri Lanka abides by the provisions of the UN Security Council Resolutions in relation to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Accordingly, necessary domestic regulations in relation to the implementation of relevant UN Security Council Resolutions have been gazetted on 06 October 2017, 19 April 2018 and 14 May 2018 respectively (reference: Extraordinary Gazette Nos. 2039/32, 2067/14 and 2071/3).

Sri Lanka cooperates closely with the UN Security Council Panel of Experts (PoE) for the implementation of the respective Resolutions, and provides responses to questions raised by the PoE from time to time.

There have been several instances where, at the point of data entry into the Customs Automated Data Processing System by the Consignee/ Customs House Agent, the country of export had been selected inadvertently as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, instead of the Republic of Korea. Having clarified this inadvertent error to the PoE, the Sri Lanka Customs has now initiated a mechanism to prevent repetition of such errors in the future.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

08 August 2018

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Speaking at the 7^th Bali Process Ministerial Conference on people smuggling, human trafficking, and other international crimes on Tuesday 7 August in Bali, Indonesia, Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana reiterated Sri Lanka's commitment for a comprehensive regional approach to combat people smuggling, and to work in partnership with governments, international organizations and civil society to prevent human smuggling, protect and support victims, and bring perpetrators to justice.

Following deliberations at Ministerial and Senior Officials level, the Conference adopted a Ministerial Declaration and Chairman's Statement of the Senior Officials' meeting.

While recognizing the importance of the UN system, and other multilateral organizations as vehicles for international discourse and norm setting, the Minister expressed support to the Bali Process and to implement Sri Lanka's legal obligations with respect to combating migrant smuggling, trafficking in persons and transnational crimes. The Minister explained steps being taken by Sri Lanka including being party to the core international human rights treaties which provide for the prevention and suppression of human trafficking, noting in particular the ratification of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its 2015 Protocol, and The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption. He also referred to the monitoring mechanisms under Sri Lanka's National Anti- Human Trafficking Task force and the five-year strategic plan (2015-2019) based on the 4 pillars of Prevention, Protection, Prosecution and Partnership, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Foreign Minister Marapana was joined by Deputy Minister of Justice, Prison Reforms, and Buddha Sasana, Sarathi Dushmantha, who led Sri Lanka's interventions at the Ministerial session with Business leaders.

The Minister held bilateral discussions with the Foreign Minister of Indonesia (Mdm) Retno Marsudi, Australia's Home Affairs, Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton, and IOM's Director General Ambassador William Lacy Swing.

During his remarks at the Conference and during his interactions with Indonesia's Foreign Minister (Mdm) Retno Marsudi, Minister Marapana conveyed Sri Lanka's condolences to all those who have been affected by the devastating earthquake off the island of Lombok in Indonesia.

Associated with Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana at the Conference and related meetings were Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister of Justice, Prison Reforms, and Buddha Sasana Sarathi Dushmantha, Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Indonesia and ASEAN Dharshana M. Perera, and officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice & Prison Reforms, the Attorney General's Department, and the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Indonesia.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

8 August 2018

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Federal Councillor Simonetta Sommaruga, Head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police of the Swiss Confederation undertook a three-day visit to Sri Lanka, during which she called on President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The main highlight of the visit was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Swiss Confederation on the establishment of a Migration Partnership.

The MoU which was signed by the Minister of Internal Affairs & Wayamba Development S.B. Nawinna on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka, and Federal Councillor Simonetta Sommaruga on behalf of the Swiss Federal Council, enables the establishment of a regular and constant dialogue and common reflective process of migration matters beneficial to both countries, especially in the following areas:   management of migration flows; prevention of irregular migration; readmission of nationals, stateless persons, and third-country nationals; return assistance and reintegration; capacity  building in migration governance matters; prevention of smuggling of migrants and fight against human trafficking; visa issues, consular and related administrative matters; vocational training; promotion of safe and regular migration for sustainable development through a comprehensive engagement on all levels; strengthening framework conditions for diaspora investment in Sri Lanka; integration; and projects promoting rule of law and reconciliation.

Delegation-level discussions between the two countries were held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 06 August, with the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Vasantha Senanayake leading the Sri Lanka delegation. Discussions focused on a range of issues including steps being taken by Sri Lanka to strengthen democratic institutions, advance reconciliation and achieve economic development, and Sri Lanka’s active and progressive engagement with the international community. Foreign Secretary Prasad Kariyawasam, and officials of several ministries including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs joined the Acting Minister at the discussions.

During her stay in Sri Lanka, Councillor Sommaruga also visited Swiss assisted projects in the Eastern Province.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo 

07 August 2018

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