Why is the Govt. silent: PHU

12 September 2016 05:42 pm

The Foreign Affairs Ministry is remaining silent in the wake of the Danish Immigration Department recognizing Tamil Eelam as one of the countries from which foreigners could apply for a visa to enter Denmark, the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) said today.

It said Danish Immigration website shows ‘Tamil Eelam’ as one of the options to be selected under the category ‘nationality’ when filling out the application.

PHU General Secretary Udaya Gammanpila said Australia too had included Eelam as a country at a recent e-census carried out by the Australian Census and Statistics Department.

“The Sri Lankan Embassy did nothing to convey its opposition to this move. Australian government agreed to remove ‘Eelam’ from the list because of the objections raised by Sri Lankans living there. Our Foreign Affairs Ministry expressed its objection after the name was removed from the list,” he told a news conference today.

The MP said international recognition was important than a piece of land when creating a new independent country. The MP said Palestine and Tibet were recognized by other nations as independent countries as opposed to Taiwan.

He said Tamil separatists formed the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) after the defeat of the LTTE in 2009.

“This is also a country which has no land. The TGTE is considered as the governing body of Tamil Eelam which has spread internationally. It is requesting the governments to recognize it. If Sri Lankan government remains silent, separatists will achieve what the terrorists failed to do,” he said. (Lahiru Pothmulla)