Govt. defends opening of new embassy despite closing down several missions

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The Foreign Affairs Ministry strongly defended its decision to set up a new diplomatic mission in Bucharest, Romania, on the basis it could help Sri Lanka generate revenue through what the Public Diplomacy Division of the Foreign Ministry called, safe and legal labour migration.

Priyanga Wickramasinghe, Director, PDD, said so in response to The Island query as to why the Foreign Ministry proposed a new diplomatic mission against the backdrop of closing down of several overseas missions, due to the forex crisis.

The Island sought an explanation, having pointed out that Sri Lanka HC in Nigeria, its embassy in Norway, Consulates in Germany, Cyprus as well as Sydney, Australia, were closed down before the change of government took place in July last year.

Responding to another query, the official said that the Foreign Affairs Ministry recently received the go ahead from the Sectoral Oversight Committee on International Relations. In fact, the parliamentary committee instructed the Foreign Affairs Ministry to expedite the opening of the embassy as all related formalities have been completed.

In the wake of Sri Lanka’s announcement on the closing of its mission in Oslo, Norway declared that it would terminate its mission in Colombo at the end of July, this year.

Parliament said that the Sectoral Oversight Committee on International Relations, chaired by Namal Rajapaksa, MP, discussed the issue at hand with the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Lawmakers Niroshan Perera, Mayantha Dissanayake, Akila Ellawala, Yadamini Gunawardena, and Dr. Harini Amarasuriya were present.

According to the Director, PPD, the Foreign Affairs Ministry has received Cabinet approval to establish a mission in Romania, in October, 2020, in the wake of the last general election.

Pointing out that Romania upgraded the status of its mission in Colombo to a full-fledged Embassy in 2017, the Ministry said establishing an embassy there would be a reciprocal, goodwill gesture on the part of Sri Lanka. That would give new momentum to the bilateral engagement and help consolidate multifaceted cooperation with the EU member.

Asserting that the number of Sri Lankans working, could be as many as 40,000, and the number of registered is approximately 15,000, the Ministry described Romania as the most attractive and accessible labour destination for Sri Lankans in the EU – from skilled to low-skilled (blue-collar) job categories in the IT, hospitality, construction and agri-business/agriculture and apparel sectors.

Romania has become quite an attractive destination for Sri Lankans, since 2016, the Ministry said.

The Ministry said with the increase in the number of Sri Lankans there, the mission in Warsaw, Poland, concurrently accredited to Romania, found it difficult to address consular issues (employment-related issues/job losses/employer/employee complaints) hence the need for a mission in Bucharest.

Against the backdrop of the EU funding granted to Romania for infrastructure development projects (hospitals, housing, railways, highways, renewable energy, etc.), the Ministry expected to push for a larger share of the non-EU foreign labour market. The Ministry expressed confidence in securing as many as 10,000 jobs there, annually.