COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
―The Superintendent Police, Criminal Investigations Department (CID) said that checks
would be conducted as to whether they were wanted. If they were, they would be
arrested and produced before the Magistrates Court in Negombo. The representative
from Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) said that such an individual would definitely be
stopped.
―If an individual has jumped bail/escaped from custody. The senior intelligence official
said that the person would be produced at Court. The Superintendent Police, Criminal
Investigations Department (CID) agreed. The representative from Centre for Policy
Alternatives (CPA) said that the individual would definitely be stopped.‖
―The IOM representative said that people encountered problems travelling inland if they
did not have an ID card. They faced security checks, as the National Identity Card (NIC)
was the only document that could prove identity. The Emergency Travel Document
could be used, but only for a maximum of three months and they must then apply for an
NIC. This could cause problems, as they could not apply for the NIC in Colombo if they
originated from Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya, as they must
receive Grama Seveka [local official] authority.‖
25.33 A letter from the BHC, Colombo, dated 5 January 2012, 521 reported on the entry
procedures for the UK returnees at the Colombo Bandaranaike Airport:
―UK returnees generally arrive in Colombo on Sri Lankan Airlines scheduled flights,
which provide the only direct flights between the UK and Sri Lanka from London
Heathrow Terminal 4. Returnees also arrive from the UK however on Qatar Airlines via
Doha, Gulf Air via Bahrain and Jet Airways via Delhi or Mumbai. The UK Border Agency
chartered aircraft in June, September and December 2011 specifically to remove Sri
Lankan nationals who were remaining unlawfully in the UK. These have been reported
separately. [see paragraphs 25.35 - 25.40 below]
―Returnees who are being escorted will be presented to the duty Chief Immigration
Officer in the immigration arrivals hall by the escorting officers. Those who are not
escorted should be presented to the duty Chief Immigration Officer by an airline official,
although this does not happen in all cases. All returnees must be in possession of either
a valid passport or an Emergency Passport issued by the Sri Lankan High Commission
in London. They must also complete an arrival card, which they should have been given
on the plane, and present this to immigration along with their passport.
―UK returnees escorted or presented by the airline are immediately identifiable as
returnees to DIE. Unescorted returnees travelling on Emergency Passports issued by
the Sri Lankan High Commission in London will be questioned by DIE to ascertain if
they are returnees. However, unescorted returnees travelling on their original passports
will in all probability not even be questioned by DIE unless they bring themselves to the
immigration officers‘ attention in some other way e.g. presenting a document containing
forged or unauthorised endorsements.
―DIE procedures are the same for all deported and returned Sri Lankan nationals and
they will interview them merely to confirm their Sri Lankan nationality. They record the
details of all returnees in a register (logbook) which is held in the duty Chief Immigration
Officer‘s office. Once satisfied that a returnee is a Sri Lankan national in many cases
521 British High Commission Colombo, letter dated 5 January 2012, available upon request
202 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.