Diplomatic crisis between Maldives -SL

The Maldivian High Commission in a strongly worded statement has denied breaching diplomatic protocol when Sri Lankan authorities arrested and deported 18-year-old Maldivian National Ahmed Ashraf on November 2.

The High Commission said Ashraf was arrested by the Sri Lankan authorities after the Government of the Maldives made a formal request to the Sri Lankan Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on October 30.

“The request was made following a court warrant to arrest Ashraf in connection with the on-going investigation on the assassination bid in September. It has to be noted that when Ashraf was arrested, he did not have a valid travel document. No country will allow a foreigner to remain in the country without a valid travel document” the statement added.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week initiated an internal inquiry on the extradition of the Maldivian teen to ascertain if officials had violated the country’s immigration laws when Ashraf was deported.

The main suspect in the case, 18-year-old Ahmed Ashraf, was apprehended by CID sleuths in civil from a house in Dehiwala. The suspect was living there with his mother. Soon after his arrest, on Monday, the suspect was handed over to the Maldivian law enforcement authorities, who took him back tothe Maldives on the same day.

Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, Nihal Ranasinghe told the Sunday Observer that his department had no say over the deportation of the teen. “ It was the Foreign Ministry which made the decision, not we,” he said. “If any laws were breached, it needs to be clarified by the Foreign Ministry.”