British Tamil activists protested at Sri Lanka's stand at World Travel Market in ExCel exhibition centre London today, warning individuals against tourism in Sri Lanka.
The protesters disrupted a scheduled Kandyan dance and speeches by Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner and Sri Lanka’s minister for tourism. Despite publicity Sri Lanka's stall was one of the smallest and situated away from visitors’ boulevard. Activists have pledged to return to each day of the three-day event.
Demonstrators wore shirts that read “Say No to Sri Lanka! Genocide Island” and stressed that a visit to Sri Lanka was ethnically compromising.
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry contributes around 11% of the national gross domestic product over the last five years but in recent months has seen a sharp decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic and financial crisis.
Activists have raised concerns over the continued militarisation of the island. Over a decade has passed since the end of the armed conflict and yet the Sri Lankan military continues to occupy vast swathes of land in the Tamil North-East, where intense militarisation continues to be a pressing issue for locals. In particular, the armed forces have set up and continue to run several civilian businesses in the region, including holiday resorts for tourists.
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The continued use of these military-run facilities by tourists benefits human rights abusers and reinforces the continued militarisation and Sinhalisation of the Tamil North-East.
