More than 60,000 people are on a Sri Lankan government blacklist preventing them from leaving the island with “Tamil diaspora sympathisers” amongst those banned, reports Ceylon Today.
A total of 62,338 are said to be on the government blacklist according to Ceylon Today’s “senior state intelligence sources”.
“Tamil diaspora sympathisers” have been named as amongst those banned from leaving the country, with “state-of-the-art equipment” reportedly deployed at Sri Lanka’s international airport to prevent them from doing so.
Earlier this year, a former Tamil political prisoner was arrested at Colombo’s international airport, for the second time since his release in 2016. Sri Lankan authorities have also arrested several Tamil diaspora members who have attempted to return to the island in recent years.
Ceylon Today also added that Sri Lankan soldiers who deserted the military, were amongst those on the government blacklist.
See more from Ceylon Today here.
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