COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
―The Norwegian embassy informed the delegation that for a returnee who had lost
his/her NIC it would not be a problem to obtain a new one. The application for a new
NIC can be based on his/her birth certificate and the ETD travel document. If the
returnee has lost his/her birth certificate a new copy can be obtained from the
Department of the Registrar General in Colombo which is the central registry for all
documents.
―IOM [International Organisation for Migration] informed the delegation that returnees
who apply for a substitute NIC will have to be verified by the Grama Sevaka/ Niladhari
(local registrar) in their place of origin. If the returnees have not stayed in the area within
the last 12 months, or if the Grama Sevaka would be a new person, family members,
relatives and friends known to the returnee would be able to assist in providing evidence
to the Grama Sevaka. It would normally take 6 months to obtain a NIC. In the
meantime, the returnee would be able to identify himself on the basis of his Emergency
Travel Document and/or his birth certificate. If the returnee has a driving license, he/she
would already be registered in the system and the process to get a new NIC would be
easier.
―The spokesman from the British High Commission mentioned that returnees from
abroad are able to obtain a new/replacement NIC. The returnee should obtain a copy
birth certificate from the Grama Sevaka in their area of origin or through the central
registry in Colombo, and must also obtain confirmation of residence from their Grama
Sevaka. The spokesperson from the British High Commission informed the delegation
that in general, local records have been maintained during the war.‖
26.09 The USSD 2010 report 549 observed that ‗Ethnic Tamils' national identification cards
were the only cards printed in both Sinhala and Tamil.
26.10 The US Department of State‘s Trafficking in Persons Report 2011 550 , released 27 June
2011 noted that: ―While most Sri Lankans have birth certificates and (after the age of
16) national identity cards, many of the 250,000 to 350,000 internally displaced people –
a group very vulnerable to trafficking – did not have these documents. The Government
of Sri Lanka continued to provide personnel time to conduct mobile documentation
clinics for conflict-affected people with UNDP [United Nations Development
Programme].‖
26.11 The UN OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) Joint Humanitarian
and Early Recovery Update for November-December 2011 551 , released on 24 January
2012 referred to the existence of mobile clinics for legal/civil documentation services in
the Northern Province provided under UNDPs Equal Access to Justice (A2J) Project,
implemented in partnership with the Ministry of National Languages and Social
Integration and added that:
549
US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report: Sri Lanka (USSD 2010), released on 8 April 2011,
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154486.htm , date accessed 11 May 2011, Section 2d
550
US Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report 2011, released on 27 June 2011, Sri Lanka
Section, http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164233.htm date accessed 29 January 2012
551
UN OCHA Joint Humanitarian and Early Recovery Update for November-December 2011, released
on 24 January 2012 – Report #38
http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/srilanka_hpsl/Files/Situation%20Reports/Joint%20Humanitarian%20U
pdate/LKRN057_JHERU_Nov-Dec_2011.pdf, date accessed 5 February 2012, p4
218 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.