Sri Lanka celebrates the Vesak Festival
W. A. C. Perera, Head of Sri Lanka's Immigration and Emigration Department
Sri Lanka has suspended an immigration official pending inquiry into a complaint made by a foreigner over extortion of money allegedly by the Sri Lankan immigration officers at the BIA.
According to the eTurboNews, one of its publisher’s Juergen T. Steinmetz has suffered from this extortion scam carried out by Sri Lankan Immigration Officers.
Juergen T. Steinmetz went onto report the scam on eTurbonews, which in return prompted the Sri Lankan Authorities to take action to investigate the matter.
The Head of the Island’s Department of Immigration and Emigration W.A.C. Perera has also sent a letter to eTN Publisher Juergen T. Steinmetz confirming the following:
1) The Immigration Officer listed on your arrival records has been suspended, pending a full inquiry and investigation.
2) You will most likely be requested to appear at a hearing at a future date. Please let us know if you can indicate at which point you may be able to travel to Colombo so the hearing can be scheduled at a time and date convenient to you.
3) Incorporating your suggestions, signs clearly explaining the various visa fees have been posted at the Bandaranaike International Airport Arrival Counters.
He went on to say, “We deeply regret this unfortunate experience and will continue to strive to ensure such incidents do not occur to travelers visiting Sri Lanka.
“The DIE [Department of Immigration & Emigration] truly appreciates your honest and productive feedback and for your article which brought this incident to our attention.”
Juergen T. Steinmetz has said: “I am very pleased the Sri Lanka immigration officials are handling this situation in a very professional and efficient way. Putting up signs with visa fees is a good step forward to avoid such confusion at the immigration check-point at Colombo airport.
“Sri Lanka is a fantastic tourism destination and the first impression when arriving at any destination is always of utmost importance.
“I congratulate the Sri Lanka authorities on taking my small complaint serious. My complaint was not directed against one particular officer, but more a suggestion on how this type of activity could be avoided. I am very pleased the authorities in Sri Lanka took my suggestion seriously and acted so quickly. It indicates the patriotism of dedicated leaders like Mr. W.A.C. Perera and many of the Sri Lanka tourism professionals I had met over the years.
Story Courtesy: www.eTurbonews.com
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