Several leading Muslim countries had warned the government that they would revise their Visa regulations pertaining to Sri Lanka if the government did not take action against those were involved in what they termed as anti-Muslim violence.
Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Turkey, UAE, Saudi arabia, and Qatar – through their diplomatic missions in Colombo – have strongly urged the government to bring anti-Mulsim clashes to an end.
Some of the countries have stated that if and when they revise Visa regulations pertaining to Sri Lanka that would affect a large number of Sri Lankan expatriate workers presently working in their countries.
When contacted by Asian Mirror, a spokesman of the Foreign Employment Ministry, headed by Minister Dilan Perera, said the Ministry was not aware of any warning of that sort.
Nearly 300000 Sri Lankans presently work in the Middle East making it the largest avenue of foreign income for Sri Lanka. In addition, there is a sizable proportion of Sri Lankans who are working in other Muslim countries, outside the Middle Eastern region.
Therefore, any revision of Visa regulation for Sri Lnkan workers in the Middle East region would make a serious impact on the country’s economy, an economic analyst told ‘Asian Mirror’.
However, no significant action has been taken so far by the government to stop the ongoing attacks against the Muslim community of Sri Lanka. A day after the diplomatic missions of Muslim countries gave the warning to the Sri Lankan government, the Nolimit store in Panadura was attacked.