Colombo refuses visa to NGO official

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 September 2010, 22:53 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Government has ordered Daniel Horgan, security coordination officer of Nonviolent Peaceforce, a foreign NGO, to leave Sri Lanka immediately, the Sinhala language Divaina newspaper said in an article. The order was made when Horgan sent in his papers seeking renewal of his visa to continue his work in Sri Lanka.

In July, government also deported a Canadian national who functioned as the director of the Nonviolent Peaceforce organization and Ali Palh Ahamed, a Pakistani national attached to the organization to leave Sri Lanka.

Accordingly, steps were taken to ensure that both the Canadian and Pakistani nationals will not be able to return to Sri Lanka again in future for any matter.

Nonviolent Peaceforce is an unarmed, professional civilian peacekeeping force that is invited to work in conflict zones worldwide. With international headquarters in Brussels, Nonviolent Peaceforce has worked in the conflict areas of Sri Lanka extensively. Among other activities, it works with local groups to foster dialogue among parties in conflict, provide a proactive presence and safe spaces for civilians, and develop local capacity to prevent violence. Its staff includes veterans of conflict zones and experienced peacekeepers.

The Divaina newspaper article claimed that, the Intelligence units has obtained information that the Nonviolent Peaceforce has been involved in certain internal affairs with related to Sri Lanka which has been seen as detrimental against Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.