Image Credit: Belarus Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikalai Barysevich met with Sri Lankan Ambassador J. A. Liyanage on Tuesday during a meeting in which she expressed a desire to enhance the bilateral relations despite ongoing concerns over Sri Lanka’s human rights record.
This visit follows the release of a damning report by the UN High Commissioner on the deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka and mass protests in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where thousands gathered to protest against a corrupt election they claimed helped extend the rule of President Alexander Lukashenko in 2020.
Since Belarus gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the country has continued to use Soviet-style controls on the economy and notorious crackdowns on opposition and independent media. Whilst in Sri Lanka, despite claims of “development” in the North-East since the armed conflict, the Tamil homeland has been subject to intense militarisation that has impoverished communities across the North East.
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