High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom, Saroja Sirisena
Sri Lanka’s High Commission in London has been busy lobbying the British government after a ruling last week found that the Home Office decision to keep the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) proscribed as a terrorist organisation was “flawed” and unlawful, reports the Sunday Times.
Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner Saroja Sirisena reportedly held a Zoom meeting with Fergus Auld, Director South Asian Department of the Foreign Office warning of the supposed dangers of delisting the LTTE, shortly after the landmark judgment.
The day after the meeting, High Commissioner Sirisena wrote to the Secretary to the Home Office saying that the Sri Lankan Government is ready to help the Home Office “with any information pertaining to LTTE activities available to it and the dangers inherent to the international community in de-proscribing the LTTE which had caused much violence here and elsewhere in the world”.
The High Commissioner went on to claim that “delisting the LTTE could cause the revival of divisive activity”.
The High Commissioner's comments come days after Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry in Colombo released a statement saying, “The Government of Sri Lanka will continue to closely monitor the progress of the case in the UK.”
Sri Lanka’s prime minister and accused war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa also called on British authorities to ensure a ban was kept on the organisation, claiming the LTTE was “very active”.
Read more from The Sunday Times.
The ruling from Britain’s Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission however sparked hope amongst many Tamils across Britain that the LTTE may once more be legalised in the United Kingdom.
