1006/’16
Hon. Udaya Prabhath Gammanpila,— To ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs,—
(a) Will he inform this House —
(i) whether he is aware of the existence of a government called ‘Transnational Government of the Tamil Eelam’ intent on the establishment of a separate state called ‘Eelam’ within Sri Lanka; a parliament called ‘Transnational Constituent Assembly’ comprising 135 members; and a post of Prime Minister to which a person by the name of Vishwanadan Rudrakumaran has been appointed; and
(ii) whether he admits that Australian and Denmark Governments have displayed the name of Tamil Eelam in their websites as a legitimate state?
(b) Will he inform this House —
(i) whether there are any other countries other than Tibet and Tamil Eelam, which do not have a geographical territory; and
(ii) of the steps taken to prevent this illegitimate government from functioning effectively in the United States of America, Canada and Europe?
(c) If not, why?
Asked Date
2017-01-25
Asked by
Hon. Udaya Gammanpila, M.P.
Ministry
Foreign Affairs
Legislature
Eighth Parliament of the D.S.R. of Sri Lanka
Session
First Session
(a) (i) There is no government in existence called the "Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam" ( TGTE.) We are aware, however, of a self-styled group of persons calling themselves TGTE.
No country, no government, no Member State of the United Nations, no international organization or legal entity has recognized this self-styled group as a government, or as a government in exile.
(ii) The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) had listed "Tamil Eelam" as a country classification on its website, which could be selected as the "country of birth" for the Australian census of 2016.
The High Commission of Sri Lanka in Australia brought this to the attention of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on 8th August, 2016. Following representations made, the reference to "Tamil Eelam" was removed from the website of the ABS the following day, 9th August, 2016.
The Chief of the ABS has written to the Sri Lanka High Commission informing that the ABS has never recognized "Tamil Eelam" as a country, and assuring that this term will not appear in any data published from the 2016 Census of Population and Housing, consistent with the broader Australian Government recognition of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
Moreover, the Australian Government, in November 2016, extended its ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for a further period of three years after reviewing the LTTE’s listing under Australia’s Charter of the United Nations Act 1945.
"Tamil Eelam" had been listed as a country eligible for Danish visas on the Danish Immigration Service website in September, 2016.
The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs took immediate “high priority” action to probe this, and rectified what they termed as an “inadvertent error”, and “mistake made by the Danish Immigration” on its website. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark has also apologized on behalf of the Danish Government.
(b) (i) Tibet is an autonomous region of China. There is no country called "Tamil Eelam".
(ii) There is no Government called TGTE as explained above.
(c) The Government of Sri Lanka remains constantly vigilant; and cooperates extremely closely with all relevant bilateral partners on intelligence sharing. The LTTE remains banned in the list of persons, groups and entities involved in terrorist activities of the USA, Canada and the European Union.
Answered Date
2017-01-25
Answered by
Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, M.P.
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