Sri Lanka has conveyed its displeasure over the imposing of sanctions against two of its former Presidents, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, by the Government of Canada.
The message was conveyed during a meeting between Foreign Minister Ali Sabry and the Acting High Commissioner of Canada to Sri Lanka Daniel Bood held today.
The meeting took place after the Foreign Minister had summoned the High Commissioner of Canada to Sri Lanka today following the sanctions.
During the meeting, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry conveyed that the imposing of sanctions on two former Presidents of Sri Lanka is a disobliging act at this crucial juncture.
He further pointed out that the sanctions have been imposed at a time when the country is involved in deep-rooted economic and political reforms to resolve outstanding issues and attain reconciliation.
This move by Canada is unhelpful and polarizes the communities in Sri Lanka, Minister Ali Sabry added.
His concerns have been raised after Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly announced yesterday that Canada has imposed targeted sanctions against four Sri Lankan state officials, including former presidents Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The sanctions have been imposed on the two former Presidents for allegedly being responsible for gross and systematic violations of human rights during the armed conflict in Sri Lanka, which occurred from 1983 to 2009.
The regulations pursuant to the Special Economic Measures Act impose on listed persons a dealings prohibition, which would effectively freeze any assets they may hold in Canada and render them inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Mahinda Rajapaksa was president when Sri Lanka crushed Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009 following 30 years of war, while Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the Defence Secretary at the time and was president between 2019 and 2022 before resigning following mass protests in the country. (NewsWire)
