The US state department's special coordinator for global criminal justice, Todd Buchwald, and the deputy assistant secretary of state for south and central asia, Manpreet Anand, concluded their visit to the North-East and Sri Lanka this week.
Meeting with the chief minister of the northern province, C V Wigneswaran, the US officials discussed challenges to reconciliations and livelihoods in the North.
They also met with the leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R Sampanthan, and the TNA MP, M A Sumanthiran, as well as travelling to Jaffna and Trincomalee where they met with local government representatives, inter-faith groups, students, and civil society members.
“It has been useful for us to hear from different voices that provide perspective on the situation in Sri Lanka today,” Mr Buchwald said.
“We were privileged to travel to a number of places in Sri Lanka and hear first-hand about the progress made and challenges remaining.”
The US ambassador to the island, Atul Keshap said, “The United States seeks to support the Sri Lankan people at this critical juncture as they pursue constitutional reform and a peaceful, prosperous, and reconciled future,”
“Hearing a wide variety of Sri Lankan voices on reconciliation will be critical for these visitors as they help shape U.S. government assistance and policy in Sri Lanka in the coming years.”
See here for more information and photographs of the visit.
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