Member of Parliament Jagath Kumara Sumitraarachchi, the Chairman of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Open and Accountable Government, recently notified the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration to act promptly to issue passports in a manner that does not cause inconvenience to the public.According to a statement from the Parliamentary Communications Department, this was discussed when the Department of Immigration and Emigration was called before the Sectoral Oversight Committee on An Open and Accountable Government to discuss the new “Immigration” Bill.
“People have the right to pay for passports, SOC tells Immigration Dept.”
During his speech, Immigration and Emigration Controller General Harsha Ilukpitiya revealed that out of the nearly one million passports issued in 2023, only twenty-three percent had been used, and the remaining seventy-seven percent had not been. Additionally, he mentioned that the department is asking the general public who are not essential to hold off on obtaining passports because the electronic passport, or E-Passport, will be available by the end of October in some countries.The Committee Chair emphasised that as much information as possible should be shared about this with the public. The Chair did, however, also stress that the Immigration and Emigration Department bears the responsibility of granting the requested passports in order to minimise inconvenience to the public, as it is their right to obtain passports following payment. If not, the people will be extremely angry with the department and the government, according to Committee Chair Jagath Kumara Sumitraarachchi.
Additionally, representatives from the Immigration and Emigration Department promised to swiftly remove any barriers that pilgrims travelling to India and Nepal would face in obtaining passports.The Committee asked the officials about the contents of the new “Immigration” Bill while it was being considered. The bill was first draughted in 2017, according to Immigration and Emigration Controller General Harsha Ilukpitiya. The Minister of Public Security presented it to Parliament on June 20, 2024.In order to adapt to the modern social and technological environment, this new bill amends the Immigrants and Emigrants Act, the Passport (Regulation) and Exit Permit Act, No. 53 of 1971, and the issue of travel documents. He added that the relevant changes will be made because this bill has been challenged in the Supreme Court and the relevant ruling has been made public in Parliament.
It was also discovered that this bill included provisions to close the loopholes in the nation’s immigration laws. The Controller General noted that this new bill, in particular, has made the necessary legal provisions for the first time, particularly for human smuggling, which has not yet been covered by any laws in this nation.
Additionally, this new bill has passed new laws that apply to those who are in the country illegally as well as the legal requirements needed for the department to proceed with the new technology. Mr. Ilukpitiya went on to say that this bill was draughted after taking into account the advice and comments of multiple experts. The Parliamentary Communications Department added that this long-delayed bill was also discussed in the committee as being extremely important.The committee was also tasked with filling the positions held by the Immigration and Emigration Department’s staff vacancies. It was also suggested by the committee chair to bring the relevant proposal before the committee.
The chair of the committee approved the bill and stated that the department should move forward with new technology to better implement this bill. In order to remove the current barriers, the committee also instructed the Immigration and Emigration Department to submit relevant proposals to the committee within two weeks.
Furthermore, according to the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, 5 million electronic passports will be issued by the end of October 2024, with the electronic passport procurement process now in its final stages.Attending the meeting were representatives from the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Legal Draftsman’s Office. In attendance at this committee meeting were members of Parliament John Seneviratne, Udayana Kiridigoda, Gunathilaka Rajapaksa, Jayantha Weerasinghe, Ishaq Rahuman, Sudath Manjula, Kumarasiri Ratnayake, and Madhura Withanage.
