Applicants fleeced at Vavuniya Immigration Office

By Dinasena Ratugamage

Organided groups are demanding bribes of up to 10,000 rupees from individuals desperate to secure a spot in the queue at the Vavuniya Department of Immigration and Emigration office.

This development comes in the wake of officials announcing a daily quota of 200 people for passport processing.Residents living in proximity to the Immigration and Emigration office are capitalising on this situation by queuing early and selling these coveted positions to passport applicants.

Those traveling from distant locations find themselves compelled to pay these organised groups for the chance to be among the limited 200 individuals accepted daily to submit their passport applications.

The extortionists demaand 10,000 rupees to secure a place among the first 10 people in the queue. Their charges drop to between 7,000 to 5,000 rupees for positions between 10-30 and 30-50, respectively. Other queue slots are traded for amounts ranging from 3,000 to 1,000 rupees.

In a desperation, a Trincomalee resident on Thursday climbed a tree opposite the Immigration and Emigration office after three unsuccessful attempts on separate ocassions to submit his passport application.

Police arrested the Trincomalee resident but had done nothing to end this racket.

In recent days angry applicants had started confronting the organised groups that are behind the racket and there are fears that these confrontations will escalate into violence.