Petition to condemn the recent refusal of a visa to UK for Lankan Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona

Petition to be sent to British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Dr. Peter Hayes condemning the refusal of a visa to UK for Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona and show solidarity to Dr. Palitha Kohona .

The British High Commission in Colombo yesterday refused visas to outgoing Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona and former Deputy Tourism Minister and MP Arjuna Ranatunga, government sources told Daily Mirror last night.

According to well informed sources Dr. Kohona and Mr. Ranatunga had submitted their passports to the British High Commission for a visa to London but to their surprise the passports were returned without any valid reason for turning down their visa applications.

The Foreign Ministrys Chief of Protocol, through whom Dr. Kohonas passport was forwarded to the British High Commission, later sought an explanation for returning the passport but a High Commission official had reportedly told the Foreign Office that the Foreign Secretary should be personally present at the High Commission to obtain the visa.

However the Foreign Ministry had insisted that Dr. Kohona had no reason to be personally present at the High Commission to obtain the visa as he was the Foreign Secretary of the Country.

The Foreign Ministry had later again sought a visa to London for the Foreign Secretary, but the second attempt too was rejected with the High Commission saying there was not enough time to process the visa.

We are of the view the British High Commission had violated diplomatic protocols by rejecting a visa for the Foreign Secretary and feel this had further strained relations between Britain and Sri Lanka.

Government sources said Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama was expected to summon the British High Commissioner Dr. Peter Hayes today to seek an explanation over the visa rejection, particularly to the Foreign Secretary.

Earlier Attorney General Mohan Peiris was also inconvenienced by the British High Commission which asked him to appear in person for an interview to grant a visa.