Sri Lanka expels Unicef official

[GihanFX]

Sri Lankan authorities have ordered a senior United Nations official to leave the country over comments he made during the war with Tamil Tiger rebels.

James Elder's visa has been cancelled over his "propaganda in support of the Tigers", a spokesman told the BBC.



Mr Elder, a spokesman for the UN children's agency, Unicef, regularly spoke to the media on the plight of children caught up in the conflict.



Sri Lanka declared victory in its war against Tamil Tigers in May.
Mr Elder had raised UN concerns over the fate of children and civilians regularly during the final stages of the government assault in northern Sri Lanka.
In February, he said he had seen injuries suffered by the children, including "babies with shrapnel wounds, gun shot injuries and blast wounds".

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Hoda wade kalakanni ballata

 

[lkdood]

James Elder is Australian

James Elder is Chief of Media & External Relations for UNICEF in Sri Lanka.

He has an MA degree in Media and Communications. He has been active in media, publishing and information for more than 15 years, first as a journalist in his native Australia, then as an editor.

Before joining UNICEF (in 2002) he wrote for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, a string of publications abroad, and freelanced for the country's biggest-selling lifestyle magazines. During his time freelancing, he rode bulls, formula one cars, boxed a round with the world lightweight champion (he still has all his original teeth), and interviewed people from David Beckham to Richard Branson and the Dalai Lama. He then spent six months in India with his TV producer wife, filming and presenting documentaries for Cable TV.

He started his career with UNICEF in Angola, arriving six months after a three-decade war ended. There he presided over a strategy to project post-war Angola into the public and donor domain and was a co-author of the country's 'Multiple Cluster Survey' and a fundraising book of human stories from Angola.

He has done emergency stints in Darfur, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Mozambique.

 

[GihanFX]

thanx for the info IK. but aint it a gud decision ? i mean when EU pressuring us we have to do the same

 

[lkdood]

thanx for the info IK. but aint it a gud decision ? i mean when EU pressuring us we have to do the same

miniha UNICEF(UN) eke ne

"James Elder has been UNICEF's voice advocating on behalf of those who do not have a voice -- children and the most vulnerable," Sarah Crowe, UNICEF's regional chief of communications, told AFP from New Delhi.


"We strongly feel that he should continue to act as an impartial advocate on behalf of Sri Lanka's most vulnerable women and children."


Elder declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

 

[4keven4]

eka parata pannala dapu eke nam echchara honda na
oya wage reasons hinda thamay
mahinda ta usa yanna visa deelath naththe mama hithanne
nikan ratawal thara karan ba ne
poddak iwaseemen katayuthu karanna thibba

 

[lkdood]

UNICEF asks Sri Lanka why its official's visa canceled

The UNICEF called on the Sri Lankan government to give details on the government's decision to cancel the visa of UNICEF spokesman in Colombo, James Elder.

Regional chief of communications of the UNICEF Sarah Crowe told a news agency that UNICEF strongly feels that Elder should continue to act as an impartial advocate on behalf of Sri Lanka's most vulnerable women and children.

"James Elder has been UNICEF's voice advocating on behalf of those who do not have a voice -- children and the most vulnerable," she was quoted.

The government on Saturday said that it ordered the UN official to leave the country over comments he made on the recently concluded war.


Elder, an Australian citizen, gave regular television interviews to foreign media such as CNN discussing the ethnic conflict.

His visa was canceled effective Monday Sept 7, but was extended until Sept 21 after an appeal from the United Nations.



colombopage

 

[lkdood]

eka parata pannala dapu eke nam echchara honda na
oya wage reasons hinda thamay
mahinda ta usa yanna visa deelath naththe mama hithanne
nikan ratawal thara karan ba ne
poddak iwaseemen katayuthu karanna thibba

mara scene ekane

miniha UN lok kek lu

 

[lkdood]

The Government has ordered a senior United Nation’s official to leave Sri Lanka within two weeks.

James Elder, a senior official with the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), held a visa until July next year to serve in Sri Lanka. He is the first UN official carrying a UN passport with diplomatic status to be asked to leave Sri Lanka.

Two week’s time has been given after he appealed from an order to leave immediately.

A UN official said no formal reason had been given for the move by the Sri Lankan government. However, Foreign Office sources, who did not wish to be identified, said the Government was concerned over repeated remarks he had made to the media about Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in particular the conditions of children in camps.

Mr. Elder is the Communications Chief at the UNICEF’s office in Sri Lanka.

Outgoing Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said Mr. Elder, an Australian, was leaving the country since his visa had expired and he had been granted two weeks time.

“This is not an expulsion but merely the standard procedure that is carried out by the immigration authorities,” Dr. Kohona said without elaborating. Immigration Chief P. B. Abeykoon, however, confirmed that he had been instructed by the government to cancel Mr. Elder’s visa but gave no other details.

At the UNICEF headquarters in New York, senior officials expressed displeasure over the move. They are to raise the issue with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, according to reports reaching Colombo.

sundaytimes

 

[akolla]

thanx for the info IK. but aint it a gud decision ? i mean when EU pressuring us we have to do the same

we are not in any possition to take revenge from the others. we need them more than they need us(perhaps they may not need us at all). anything we do will affect on the normal masses in many ways. specialy we are in a great threat to lose our fascinations given by world organisations and countries. we should be tactical rather than heroism.

 

[GihanFX]

we are not in any possition to take revenge from the others. we need them more than they need us(perhaps they may not need us at all). anything we do will affect on the normal masses in many ways. specialy we are in a great threat to lose our fascinations given by world organisations and countries. we should be tactical rather than heroism.

i agree with you, still he cant stay in SL cus his visa got canceled, so they can send another one to SL

 

[akolla]

i agree with you, still he cant stay in SL cus his visa got canceled, so they can send another one to SL

if his visa is canceled then he will be heading back as he has no right to stay in sri lanka. what am talking about is not different personalities, but the aid organisations and other countries. there should be some actions against the unnessary intervene of our(sri lankan) matters, but for now we are not strong enough to stand against them. it is upto our polititions to act wisely and get the full use of what we are offered with. we first need to build ourselves(sri lanka) and then we may talk for what we stand...........

 

[GihanFX]

if his visa is canceled then he will be heading back as he has no right to stay in sri lanka. what am talking about is not different personalities, but the aid organisations and other countries. there should be some actions against the unnessary intervene of our(sri lankan) matters, but for now we are not strong enough to stand against them. it is upto our polititions to act wisely and get the full use of what we are offered with. we first need to build ourselves(sri lanka) and then we may talk for what we stand...........

thats so true