Norwegian embassy personnel in Colombo have secretly aided Tamil rebels out of Sri Lanka and provided political asylum in Norway for years, a Norwegian online newspaper has claimed.
The Foreigner, an Oslo-based English online site, quoted Aftenposten newspaper as alleging that Norwegian embassy staff members had helped about12 people, purchasing flight tickets, driving some to the airport, and issuing visas at short notice both for emigrants and those who had already escaped from Sri Lanka, alleges Aftenposten.
The Foreigner report said:
Norwegian Opposition politicians call the move ?quite unusual? and ?bordering on activism?, fearing it will damage international relations between the two countries.
Head of research at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), Iver B. Neumann, believes ?it is a considerable violation of sovereignty as well as the basic principle of international politics.?
?It also undermines Norwegian interests because a small-sized country such as Norway benefits from transparency, rather than how this matter has been handled,? he says.
Meanwhile, Erik Solheim, Minister of International Development, defends the practice, saying there is a long tradition in Norway for helping people at risk.
Many other LTTE opposition members are in prison without trial, have gone underground, or simply disappeared since the bloody civil war ended two years ago.
?We occasionally go even further. Our role in this matter has been one facilitating the peace process, and we therefore believe we have a humanitarian obligation to assist. It is completely obvious Sri Lanka is a country where people are subjected to various forms of persecution. We are reasonably sure there were liquidations during the last stage of the civil war,? says the minister.
Sri Lanka's embassy in Oslo has not commented on the matter to The Foreigner as yet.
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