United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon, who is on a Sri Lanka visit focused on reconciliation efforts, on Thursday faced a protest by around 50 people at the United Nations office in Colombo who questioned where was the world body during the LTTE insurgency. He arrived in Colombo from Myanmar where he met with Aung San Suu Kyi and other officials.
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The Secretary-General arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake yesterday (31) and is expected to leave Sri Lanka late night on September 2 for China to participate in the G20 Summit.
Noting that most of Sri Lanka’s youth were born and lived their early lives during conflict, terror and displacement and many of them suffered deprivations and injustice, the UN Chief emphasised that involvement in peacebuilding, reconciliation and post-conflict transformation provide an opportunity to emerge from this trauma to play a part in creating a better future.
Tomorrow, he is set to visit Jaffna, the Tamil-dominated northern district and a former LTTE bastion, and inspect camps of persons displaced by the almost three decade-long conflict.
During the visit, the Secretary-General will also meet with several Cabinet Ministers including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mangala Samaraweera; the Speaker of the Parliament Karu Jayasuriya, Political Party Leaders; and civil society representatives.
The UN’s top diplomat is also due to deliver a public lecture on “sustaining peace and achieving sustainable development goals” in Colombo Thursday.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and wife, Yoo Soon-taek, greet participants at the youth event in Galle, Sri Lanka. He last visited the island nation in May 2009, just after the end of the war.
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The country’s former government had resisted global calls to probe alleged war crimes despite a promise to Ban during his previous visit to the island in May 2009 to ensure a swift accountability process.
