Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Ali Sabry undertook a tour of Britain this week, where he met with senior British politicians who have all called for justice and accountability for mass atrocities on the island, despite his government repeatedly refusing to deliver on the issue.
Sabry took to X, formerly Twitter, to share photographs of his meetings with Lord Ahmad, the UK’s Minister of State Foreign Commonwealth & Development Affairs, as well as Lisa Cameron, Chair of the APPG Foreign Affairs.
The Sri Lankan minister also shared photographs of meetings with David Lammy, Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Affairs, and Catherine West, Shadow Minister for Asia & Pacific. “We extensively discussed Sri Lanka’s reconciliation and economic recovery processes and the UK’s vibrant Sri Lankan Community,” he tweeted.
The minister’s visit almost 15 years since Sri Lankan forces killed tens of thousands of Tamils in Mullivaikkal. Hospitals were repeatedly bombed, those waving white flags were executed and widespread sexual violence deployed. To date, no one has been held accountable for the crimes committed.
Both Lammy and West would be familiar with the issue of accountability for Sri Lanka’s crimes against Tamils, having both issued statements in recent days on the issue.
Earlier this month, Lammy released a video, stating that the festival of Thai Pongal is also a time to “remember the sacrifices made by the Tamil people for self-determination”.
Last year, Lammy urged the British government to act upon the recommendations of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and refer Sri Lankan war criminals to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Lammy addresses an audience of Tamils in London, 2022.
In 2022, he told an audience of Tamils "I marched for sanctions on apartheid South Africa... I am demanding sanctions be imposed on Sri Lankan war criminals". "We believe in internationalism, multilateralism and the rule of law. That means you must be held to account for atrocities committed against innocent, decent people".
"As a fellow member of a minority community, I pay tribute to the Tamils."
West was a guest at two different Thai Pongal celebrations last week, where she told British Tamils Labour has been working closely with the foreign policy community “to see some justice done and live up to the aspirations of the UN resolutions on the tragedy of the conflict in Sri Lanka. She added that "progress has been very slow for the justice we need to see for Tamils."
But Sabry is one of a host of senior Sri Lankan officials who have repeatedly rejected UN resolutions that have called for accountability. Instead, the Sri Lankan foreign minister blamed the Tamil diaspora for the resolution and has denied that a genocide took place. Sabry previously served as Sri Lanka’s justice minister, as well as a brief stint as finance minister. A long-time Rajapaksa ally and a member of the legal team of Gotabaya’s presidential counsel, Sabry helped campaign for the accused war criminal in 2019.
“Our constant calls to the Labour Party are for an independent international investigation into war crimes, crimes against humanity and the genocide that happened to the Tamil people and for a solution that leads to achieving self-determination for Tamils in Sri Lanka,” Sen Kandiah, chair of Tamils for Labour told the Tamil Guardian.
“I am happy to say that the Labour Party is on the same page as us on both these issues and Labour in government will deliver for the Tamil people. This is very clear from the statements that have come from the Labour leadership since 2009.”
“I am sure Mr Sabry would have received the same message.”
Sabry also met Bob Blackman, the chair of the APPG for Council of Sri Lankan Muslim Organisations UK, and another parliamentarian who was present at British Tamil events this month.
Pleased to meet with the Chair, All-Party-Parliamentary-Groups for Council of Sri Lankan Muslim Organisations @BobBlackman at Portcullis House today. @MFA_SriLanka pic.twitter.com/i37NcuSP2v
— M U M Ali Sabry (@alisabrypc) January 25, 2024
Just weeks ago the Conservative MP said that it is time for Sri Lanka to own up to what happened at the end of the armed conflict, that Tamils get closure for what happened to their forcibly disappeared relatives and “that power is devolved from Colombo to the Tamil homeland.”
In November 2023, he spoke at Maaveerar Naal commemorations at the ExCel centre and said he was honoured to there to honour those who “gave their lives in the cause of freedom.”
In 2021, Blackman released a video speaking on the need to impose sanctions on Sri Lankan individuals, including former army commander Shavendra Silva. "We need to sanction Silva [...] to make clear that his behaviour was reprehensible, unacceptable, and he needs to be held to account for the decisions he took," he stated.
Blackman at Maaveerar Naal, November 2023.
Though those Sabry met have spoken out against Sri Lanka’s abuses in recent weeks alone, little of that featured in the foreign minister’s comments. Indeed, whilst Sabry tweeted about discussing “UK-Sri Lanka ties” and “views on the freedom of navigation and maritime issues” with Lord Ahmad, the senior British official tweeted the same photograph but instead said “key human rights issues including the Truth Unity and Reconciliation Bill, the implementation of the 13th amendment, economic recovery, and global events” had been the topics of discussion.
Delighted to meet Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Ali Sabry @alisabrypc today. We discussed key human rights issues including the Truth Unity and Reconciliation Bill, the implementation of the 13th amendment, economic recovery, and global events. pic.twitter.com/0zXMy2baFB
— Lord (Tariq)Ahmad of Wimbledon (@tariqahmadbt) January 25, 2024
“British officials have been clear about the need for accountability for those horrific rights abuses,” said Aru Sivananthan of the British Tamil Conservatives.
“Those crimes cannot be swept away or left unaddressed, and only an international accountability mechanism can tackle them. We have been working closely with the British government for years on this issue. We know those points would have been pressed very firmly with the visiting Sri Lankan minister.”
Not everyone that the foreign minister met has been a supporter of the struggle for justice however. Sabry also tweeted photographs of Liam Fox, an old friend of successive Sri Lankan regimes.
Had an engaging dialogue with the Rt Hon @LiamFox today. We explored the longstanding ties between the UK and Sri Lanka, and I shared updates on Sri Lanka's progress across all fronts. @MFA_SriLanka pic.twitter.com/VYJCkABWQL
— M U M Ali Sabry (@alisabrypc) January 25, 2024
Fox's relationship with Sri Lanka has been no secret. He became infamous after revelations he 'breached the ministerial code' and displayed a 'failure of judgment', as he accepted at least three fully paid trips to Sri Lanka, funded by the former government. He stayed in five-star hotels and had first-class travel funded for himself and Adam Werritty, a self-styled ‘advisor’ and close friend of Liam Fox, who accompanied him on his trips and reportedly discussed arms deals with Colombo. Fox was forced to resign from his post as Defence Secretary in 2011.
Since then he had rekindled relations when he met the then Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the UK. It is not known whether he is due to visit the island again anytime soon.
