Sri Lanka has rejected the European Union's conditions — including human rights improvements — for renewing special trade benefits for the island nation, the foreign minister said Thursday.
External Affairs Minister Gamini Peiris said the government would not agree to the 15 conditions, which he said would involve "fundamental changes" to the constitution and "drastic changes" to legislative framework. He said such actions would infringe on country's sovereignty and could weaken national security.
Peiris said "no self respecting government anywhere in the world would agree to undertake to fulfill these conditions."
Sri Lanka's trade benefits with the world's biggest consumer market are due to expire Aug. 15. The EU had asked Sri Lanka to give a written commitment by July 1 pledging to improve human rights before it would consider renewing them.
Losing the trade benefits could cost Sri Lanka some 78 million euros ($96 million), based on its 2008 exports. Sri Lanka exports about 1.24 billion euros ($1.7 billion) worth of goods to Europe per year.
An EU report last year said Sri Lanka is breaching United Nations commitments to respect civil and political rights and violating a convention against torture and a charter on children's rights.
Sri Lanka is also facing growing international criticism for not examining alleged abuses that occurred during the last phase of the civil war that ended in May 2009, when government forces crushed the rebels who had fought for a separate state in the north for ethnic minority Tamils.
The U.N. says more than 7,000 civilians died in the last five months of the conflict.
On Tuesday, the U.N. appointed a three-member panel to look into the alleged war abuses. Sri Lanka strongly opposed the panel, calling it "an unwarranted and unnecessary interference with a sovereign nation."
rata wasiyage mulika aithiwasikam rakin na baha kiyana anduwak
hoda deyak narakak karan na puluwan 'suba anagathayata' witherai
janathawata thamai duka enne lokkonta newei
mehema giyoth ආසියාවේ ආශ්චර්ය wena eka hinayak witherai
External Affairs Minister Gamini Peiris said the government would not agree to the 15 conditions, which he said would involve "fundamental changes" to the constitution and "drastic changes" to legislative framework. He said such actions would infringe on country's sovereignty and could weaken national security.
Peiris said "no self respecting government anywhere in the world would agree to undertake to fulfill these conditions."
Sri Lanka's trade benefits with the world's biggest consumer market are due to expire Aug. 15. The EU had asked Sri Lanka to give a written commitment by July 1 pledging to improve human rights before it would consider renewing them.
Losing the trade benefits could cost Sri Lanka some 78 million euros ($96 million), based on its 2008 exports. Sri Lanka exports about 1.24 billion euros ($1.7 billion) worth of goods to Europe per year.
An EU report last year said Sri Lanka is breaching United Nations commitments to respect civil and political rights and violating a convention against torture and a charter on children's rights.
Sri Lanka is also facing growing international criticism for not examining alleged abuses that occurred during the last phase of the civil war that ended in May 2009, when government forces crushed the rebels who had fought for a separate state in the north for ethnic minority Tamils.
The U.N. says more than 7,000 civilians died in the last five months of the conflict.
On Tuesday, the U.N. appointed a three-member panel to look into the alleged war abuses. Sri Lanka strongly opposed the panel, calling it "an unwarranted and unnecessary interference with a sovereign nation."
rata wasiyage mulika aithiwasikam rakin na baha kiyana anduwak
hoda deyak narakak karan na puluwan 'suba anagathayata' witherai
janathawata thamai duka enne lokkonta newei
mehema giyoth ආසියාවේ ආශ්චර්ය wena eka hinayak witherai
