SL foreign service crippled by dearth of career diplomats

• Nearly 60 overseas missions of SL and 22 divisions of foreign ministry impacted 
• The country has only 166 diplomats out of the approved cadre of 268

By Kelum Bandara   

The Sri Lankan Foreign Service is crippled without the adequate number of career diplomats triggered by non-recruitment for a long time, apparently to reserve vacancies for political appointments, Daily Mirror learns.  

 According to a top source, the country has only 166 diplomats out of the approved cadre of 268, which itself is not large enough. The source said that the lack of career diplomats had impacted the operation of around 60 overseas missions of Sri Lanka and 22 divisions of the foreign ministry.

“When we mentioned this to some foreign ambassadors, they were taken aback. Fresh efforts are expected to be made to recruit people to the Foreign Service. It is difficult to run the service in this manner,” the source said.   

Daily Mirror learns that the Sri Lankan embassy in Jakarta is run without a single officer from the career service.   

Sri Lankan Foreign Service has also been politicized for decades. Currently, non-career diplomats have been posted to key capitals such as Washington DC and Moscow. Most of the time, relatives of politicians are appointed to key posts in the Sri Lankan missions abroad. It is also learnt that some missions are over-staffed and others understaffed.

• Some missions over-staffed and others understaffed