21 May 2023 05:06 pm Views - 8174
A Chinese passenger using a forged passport and his two friends, another Chinese and an Egyptian who attempted to enter the county at the Bandaranaike International Airport and behaved in an unruly manner when the Immigration and Emigration officers detected the forgery and prevented their entry, had been detained to be deported, but released on the instructions of the State Minister of Urban Development and Housing Arundika Fernando.
Investigations revealed that the Chinese passenger bearing a forged passport and two others had arrived from Dubai on Thursday (18) and the former produced a passport issued by the Guinean government which, the officials found was forged.
The state minister who requested in writing to the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration to allow the Chinese passenger to enter the country, had pointed out that he was a foreign investor.
In his letter to Controller General Harsha Ilukpitiya, the State Minister stated that the purpose of the visit by the Chinese passenger was to invest funds towards a few housing projects in Sri Lanka which are under the purview of his ministry.
Immigration and Emigration officials said the two Chinese and the Egyptian were released on Saturday morning (20). They are surprised that foreign investors are allowed to enter the country even on forged passports. (T.K.G. Kapila)