Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

A Canadian who pleaded guilty to terrorism conspiracy for his role in a 2006 plot to supply separatist rebels in Sri Lanka was sentenced in a Brooklyn, N.Y. court on Monday to time served.

The sentence marks the end of a case that began six years ago, when Ramanan Mylvaganam, 35, was arrested by RCMP officers near Toronto and eventually extradited to the United States to stand trial.

On Feb. 8, he pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He was tried in the U.S. because the offences occurred partly while he was working in Washington State.

U.S. prosecutors had been seeking a 15-year prison sentence for Mylvaganam, arguing he had committed a gravely serious offence by attempting to procure equipment for the Tamil Tigers rebel group.

Indian worker s death: Questions over visas

Amid the death of an Indian worker at a Gampaha steel factory, immigration and emigration authorities are asking people to help trace foreigners working in Sri Lanka without valid work permits, officials said yesterday.

The Indian man Manas Kumar Mallick had been accidentally electrocuted while working as an assistant fitter at the privately owned steel plant.

As fallout of this tragedy, Sri Lankan authorities wonder whether foreigners who arrive here on tourist visas find employment at various factories being operated by investors from their home countries.

Immigration and Emigration Controller Chulananda Perera said he would instruct his officials to check whether the Indian workers at this steel plant had valid work permits.

If they have come on tourist visas and found employment, we can take action against them under the Immigration and Emigration Act. If guilty they will be liable to a fine and deportation, he said.

There are guidelines imposed by the Board of Investment (BoI) for such workers. With BoI approval, investors can bring employees from their respective countries, subject to various conditions. In this case, contributions have been made to the EPF and the ETF. But I am not sure whether they have come on tourist visas or with valid work permits issued according to BoI rules, the minister said.

He said several Indians were operating harvesting machines in areas such as Batticaloa.