Warning removed

10 September 2010 11:00 am

By Jamila Najmuddin


Canada has removed the official Travel Warning that was in effect for the North and East of Sri Lanka but has yet advised Canadians to exercise a high degree of caution, a Canadian Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Daily Mirror online.

Canadian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Lisa Monette said that in November 2009, Canada had removed the nationwide official travel warning to “avoid non-essential travel” to Sri Lanka, but kept a regional warning to “avoid all travel” to the north and east of the country.

Mid this year, Canada reviewed the Travel Report for Sri Lanka and removed the ‘Official Travel Warning’ that was in effect for the east and north of the country, thereby removing the Travel Warning on all parts of the island.

“We now advise Canadians to “exercise a high degree of caution” for the country overall. There is no Official Travel Warning for Sri Lanka at this time,” Monette told Daily Mirror online.

“The purpose of our travel report is to inform Canadian travelers about the security situation in Sri Lanka to ensure that they make informed decisions and travel safely. We have travel reports for over 200 countries, including Sri Lanka,” Monette added.

Mentioned in its Travel Report on Sri Lanka, the Canadian government has stated that Canadians in Sri Lanka should generally maintain a high level of personal security awareness at all times, monitor local developments via local news reports, and follow the advice of local authorities.
The Report added that although the Sri Lankan Government had recently lifted some restrictions on travel, a nationwide state of emergency was still in effect. (Daily Mirror online)