5 October 2020 09:26 am
Security has been beefed up at the Immigration and Emigration Department Detention Centre to keep a close tab on its foreign detainees and their carefree movements following the sudden emergence of a local Covid-19 patient from the community in Divulapitiya yesterday.
A senior Immigration official told the Daily Mirror presently 107 foreigners including ten females are being detained at the centre in Mirihana and their condition was found to be negative of Covid-19 as of yesterday.
This detention centre is located within the Mirihana Divisional Headquarters Police Station and apart from the usual guard on the premises, the security has been beefed up with the assistance of the Civil Defence Force personnel.
The official said an emergency medical camp was held in the centre recently when a Nigerian male illegal immigrant was detected with fever like symptoms and respiratory issues.
Specialists from the Colombo South Teaching Hospital in Kalubowila conducted the medical camp with the premises and checked all detainees with PCR tests to find they were negative of Covid-19.
However, the sick Nigerian was found to be suffering from Tuberculosis and had been given proper treatment.
Since these foreigners are detained indefinitely until they get their return airfare or tickets ready to be deported to their respective countries, the usual practice was to let them move about in and out of the premises to fetch their daily needs without strict security measures, as they generally pose no threat to the society or the authorities.
However, with the Covid-19 outbreak in Sri Lanka and owing to its latest developments the security had been beefed up in this centre making no room for the detainees to vacate the premises for any reason.
The official further said this measure will ensure that neither the foreign detainees will contract the virus nor they would act as carriers of it making matters worse for the health and security authorities.(Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana)