Tour operators in Germany have canceled tours to Sri Lanka after an organisation warned that the country is no longer safe due to the security situation.
The organisation called "The German Office for International Affairs" has stated that Sri Lanka is facing a difficult situation and advised tourists not to visit Sri Lanka. It is learnt that already several Tourists have canceled their bookings after the warning.
However a German Embassy official told "The Sunday Times" they were not aware of such an organisation. "May be, it is an English translation but still such a name is not familiar. It definitely is not a government body, we have only our Foreign Ministry," he said.
According to this official the German Embassy does not permit tourists to visit the North and East, but there are no other restrictions.
Meanwhile a Foreign Ministry official told "The Sunday Times" they too were not aware of such an organisation and said that it must be a pro LTTE movement which is spreading such rumours.
While the people will have to put with the spiraling cost of living, and are even prepared to sacrifice what little they have for the sake of the country, a vehicle costing about Rs. 5.3 million has been imported for a senior Cabinet Minister.
A Nissan Cedric bearing engine number VE30-378690 was imported for the use of the Minister recently, who in addition has three of the latest Mercs as well.
The cylinder capacity of the sleek Nissan is 2987 cc. About Rs. 50,000 is to be paid as luxury tax per annum. The tax has been paid by cheque bearing No: 4027948 by a corporation and the voucher number is GP-02114/96/0035.
If we remember right the former Ministers were vehemently criticised for their extravagance in having imported some costly vehicles. Those vehicles which were found to be eye sores at that time were put to public auction, but now again we have a Minister using a car worth Rs. 5.3 million.
Mr. Moser was in Sri Lanka along with two other members of the Swiss National Council, Hans Steffen and Walter Schmied, this week. They were able to meet both Government and opposition MPs, including Tamil political party representatives, before leaving the country on Friday night.
Excerpts from an interview with Mr. Moser
Q: Why did you present a motion to get the LTTE banned in Switzerland?
A: I presented the motion for the banning of the Turkish Kurdish group and the LTTE as I consider them to be terrorist groups. I had clear evidence that the money collected by the Tigers as well as the PKK was going for terrorist activities. There are similarities between these organizations, but the motion was defeated.
Parliment always need concrete proof to show that some groups are in criminal type deals. I had clear information from the refugees that they are being harassed and pressurized to pay. There were people who had been beaten up too.
Q: Why do you think the motion was defeated?
A: The answer of the Minister was that he would like to keep these groups under control and see that they are not under cover. But in any case terrorists always go under cover. If we banned these groups, it would have been a sign that we did not like to have them in our country.
Q: Will you bring the motion in Parliament again?
A: As soon as we get clear information from the case, we may consider it. They had several thousand Swiss Francs when they were arrested. It is difficult to pin-point that the money is being used for terrorist activities.
Q: During the debate, was the point raised that since Sri Lanka has not banned the organization, action could not be taken against the LTTE in Switzerland?
A: No, actually police investigations say there should be more evidence to prove that the organizations are linked with terrorist activities.
Q: How do you compare the refugee problem in Switzerland with other European countries?
A: There is a vast difference between those applying for refugee status in our country and other European countries. We have the highest number of applications from refugees compared to other European countries, in proportion to their population. For every 100,000 nationals there are 440 refugees in our country whereas the second highest is in Denmark, where there are 140 refugees for 100,000 nationals. Within the last one year, we had 17,000 more persons who have come to the country and of the crowd six per cent were from Sri Lanka. The highest had come from Yugoslavia and Bosina and it is understandable, that the highest come from there. But for Sri Lanka I do not remember them having a serious problem for so many refugees to come.
Q: Will the Swiss government strengthen immigration laws?
A: Our country has signed the Geneva Conference. If a person comes to the Port and says he is a refugee, he is accepted into the country. There is a specialized lawyer to help them. You can go on for about four years, until your case is taken up as there are four stages for your application to be processed. From Sri Lanka in the first stage, we have 8449 cases. In the 2nd category, 546 applications, and in the 3rd stage, which is those getting out of the country, there are 2400. Out of the 23,000 Sri Lankan refugees, there are only 279 applications which are accepted under the Geneva Convention. Therefore the rest are being kept on humanitarian grounds, who also follow the same patterns. They go and have conversations, go to difficult areas in the country and collect money.
Q: The gates were open for Tamil refugees since 1983 and is it only now that this problem has cropped up?
A: No. This has been going on for long, but nobody said anything about it. We did not know the people of your country. They should have told us. I do not know how fast the LTTE moved in, but when the organization became active, we started getting complaints. This has been going on for about a year.
Q: What action is being taken against terrorist activities in Switzerland?
A: We have at the moment in Switzerland 23,000 Sri Lankans. The Tigers were led by Murali. Fifteen, including Murali were arrested. Five are still under detention. They were not released because there was clear evidence. You do not have a case, if there is no evidence. It is difficult to find evidence. A week after the people were arrested there was demonstration in Berne in protest of the arrests.
Q: What sort of troubles do these organizations cause?
A: There have been several clashes and shootings among the groups, but nothing against our people. We have democracy and freedom and these are respected. We want to make sure that our Constitution is respected by everyone. Of course from our side, there is hardly any demonstration at all. May be, we had reasons for demonstrations. Groups from other countries think that it is a good place to go and create problems so that they get maximum publicity.
For us it is difficult when we look at the face, I cannot say who is an economic refugee and who is a political refugee. At least 80 percent of refugees are economic refugees and not political ones.
The incessant ringing of the phone welcomes every new man in the Army's hot-seat. Arms dealers, business tycoons and even politicians are quick to pledge their unstinted support.
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Lt. Gen. Daluwatte is a giant of a sort. But beneath his athletic figure is a devout Buddhist. A soft- spoken vegetarian and a firm believer in strict discipline - with self, family and the military.
Daluwatte was never seen as the man cut-out to succeed the late Lt. Gen. Denzil Kobbekaduwa. He was liked by the rank and file but fell short of being an army heavy weight. Until power was thrusted on him, when in a strange twist of events, he was made the Overall Operations Commander. Interestingly though he was among the top brass, best prepared for the crucial job. Daluwatte, fortunate to be a close confidant of Denzil Kobbekaduwa was handpicked by the late General to lead several major offensives. Daluwatte thus, grew in military acumen in Denzil Kobbekaduwa's shadow.
Daluwatte shuns politics but probably enjoys the new powers vested in him. He has pledged his bosses (President Kumaratunga and General Ratwatte) that the war will see an early end.
This columnist while congratulating Lt. Gen. Daluwatte, likes to caution the good General of the inevitable pitfalls and temptations scattered on his path. These have ruined a few good Generals before him. Censored censored censored censored censored.
But Lt. Gen. Daluwatte offers new hope and promises to us her in a new era for the military.
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