The Ministry of Defence has announced that there is no restriction for foreign passport holders to travel to the country’s North, and blamed the miscommunication on a glitch on the ministry’s website, due to a technical upgrade.
In a statement, the ministry assured unhindered access to all foreign passport holders who wish to travel to any part of Sri Lanka including the North without any restrictions.
“The defense ministry website was subjected to a technical upgrade recently and all old news publications have been reappearing under a new modified date 03-03-2016, as the technical change was done on that date. Certain websites have taken advantage of this technical glitch and published news posts stating that the registration for Foreign Passport holders traveling to the North was back in force,” the defence ministry said.
The defense ministry lifted the travel restrictions imposed on all foreign passport holders to the North during the first Security Council meeting in January 2015, just a week after President Maithripala Sirisena was elected to power.
“Therefore the defense ministry assures all those traveling to Sri Lanka or visiting the North, unhindered access to any part of the country without any restrictions, and assures that the government is continuously working towards the peace and reconciliation process of the country, and urges people not to be misled by these false news reports,” the ministry added.
