We wish to inform the public that our 24 hour hotlines +447448063261 and +447466770612 and the telephone number +447424162500 introduced for emergency consular assistance will cease to function from Monday, 18 May 2020.
Our general telephone number +44 2072621841 is now functional and the public is requested to use this number to contatct us.
The Government of Sri Lanka urges the Sri Lankan expatriates who wish to return to their Motherland from abroad to safely remain where they are now until the risk of COVID – 19 virus is minimized.
The Government has taken several effective initiatives to prevent the spread of the pathogen. In order to stop the virus coming into the country and its spread, the Government had completely banned passenger arrivals from overseas.
The Government has announced that the requests made by Sri Lankans overseas to return will be considered after containing the disease in the country.
Therefore, the Additional Secretary to the President on Foreign Relations, Admiral Jayanath Colombage requests all Sri Lankans who wish to return, to stay safely where they are at present while sharing their information with the Sri Lankan Mission or Consulate General offices in their respective countries.
‘Contact Sri Lanka’ an online portal jointly created by the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Information & Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) for the benefit of Overseas Sri Lankans was launched on 26 March 2020. The portal can be accessed at www.contactsrilanka.mfa.gov.lk.
Establishment of the portal, is pursuant to the call made by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for coordinated efforts by all Government stakeholders to fight the COVID-19 outbreak and to harness digital technology to prompt faster and more efficient service delivery.
All Sri Lankans living abroad are invited to register voluntarily on the platform’s basic functionalities allowing the Government of Sri Lanka to reach out and provide assistance during emergencies such as the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Portal offers user friendly registration creating a profile or using any existing email logins. Registered users are able to request assistance from the Foreign Relations Ministry by filling a simple form.
In the long term, the Portal will be expanded and is expected to serve as an official source of information and facilitate Overseas Sri Lankans in obtaining a wider range of digital services offered by the Government.
For easy facilitation, the portal also includes a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) which will serve as a guideline for generic queries. This user friendly platform can be easily navigated via the internet, on any browser or interface and can be accessed by all registered users to direct a query or request assistance, even from a mobile phone.
The data provided through this portal is protected to ensure the privacy of Overseas Sri Lankans and will not be shared without the consent of the users.
Sri Lanka has sought expertise in preventing violent extremism (PVE) from the Global Community Engagement & Resilience Fund (GCERF), in the post Easter Sunday scenario where violent extremism has become the biggest threat to national security. At the invitation of the Foreign Ministry, the Executive Director of GCERF, Dr. Khalid Koser was in Sri Lanka from 27 – 30 August, and met with political leaders, senior officials and other stakeholders with a view to ascertain possible programmes for GCERF assistance.
From left: Managing Director of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Chamarie Maelge; Sri Lankan cricket celebrity, Mahela Jayawardene; High Commissioner to the UK, H E Manisha Gunasekera; Neil Dobbs of Travel Gallery (UK) and Rosyth Estate House (SL); Chandra Wickremasinghe of Theme Resorts and Spas
Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha on Thursday (8 August 2019) called for an early decision by ASEAN to include Sri Lanka as an ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partner, in order to strengthen engagement with ASEAN and its member countries.This follows the submission to the ASEAN of Sri Lanka’s dossier for Sectoral Dialogue Partnership in March 2019.
