Drawing attention to Sri Lanka's refusal to be represented at the the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, taking place in London this week, the British Foreign Office Minister of State, Hugo Swire called on Sri Lanka to explain their absence.
“Clearly we would like Sri Lanka to be here, but they are not,” Mr Swire said, speaking to Tamil Guardian just before the ministerial dialogue session this morning.
“I think countries that are not here need to explain to their communities why they are not,” he said, adding, “150 plus countries have signed up to this and its more a case of why aren't you here than why are you here.”
“Obviously we would like all countries to sign up to this,” he stressed.
Mr Swire's comments reiterated comments made on Tuesday by fellow FCO minister Mark Simmonds, that the UK was “disappointed” at Sri Lanka's rejection of the summit.
Highlighting sexual violence in Sri Lanka as a matter of particular concern to the UK government, another senior UK minister conceded the UK's on-going deportations of Tamil asylum seekers needed to be addressed and the UK's country guidance on Sri Lanka required improving.
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