WEB DESK
Sri Lankan government has condemned the action of a group of Buddhist monks and the police over the incident involving Rohingya refugees at a UN safe house in Colombo last evening.
Addressing the weekly press conference, cabinet spokesman Dr. Rajitha Senaratne on Wednesday said that the monks behaved in a manner which disrespected Buddhism and was unacceptable. He also questioned the police for allowing the monks to threaten the refugees.
Senaratne said the monks behaved in a manner which disrespected Buddhism.
He also questioned the Police for allowing the monks to threaten the refugees while Police officers looked on.
Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said that cabinet will discuss the incident and look at how such incidents must be addressed in future. Monks from the Sinhale Jathika Balamuluwa led a mob and surrounded a house in Mount Lavinia yesterday where the Rohingya refugees were staying.
The monks then entered the house with the Police and live streamed the Police taking the refugees out.
Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said that cabinet will discuss the incident and look at how such incidents must be addressed in future. He asserted that Rohingya refugees have been in Sri Lanka since 2008 and yet monks were protesting only now.
A mob led by a group of Buddhist monks had attacked a UN safe house housing 31 Rohingya refugees forcing the authorities to take the refugees under police protection. The monks claimed the refugees are Muslim terrorists who killed Buddhist monks in Myanmar.
A group led by Buddhist monks mobbed a United Nations-run safe house for Rohingya Muslims on Tuesday, claiming that they were terrorists and demanding they be sent back to Myanmar, prompting police to relocate them.
Dozens of protesters from Sri Lanka’s majority Buddhist community led a mob that stormed a multi-storied house at Mount Lavinia on the outskirts of the Sri Lankan capital.
Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said about 30 Rohingya Muslims were taken into police custody to be moved to a safe location following the protest led by monks and lay persons.
The presence of Rohingya Muslims who had fled Myanmar was questioned in Sri Lanka Parliament too.
Yesterday Opposition MP Jayantha Samaraweera who raised a question on the issue said a camp comprising of Rohingya Muslims who had come down from Myanmar has been set up near Mirihana. “We would like to know what actions the government would take in regard to Extradition Laws,” the MP questioned. Mr Samarawerra said this has been reported in social media. “Social media has reported on this and it is indeed a reality,” he said.
Minister of Justice Thalatha Athukorala who responded said she was not in a position to give any details on it now.
MP Wimal Weerawansa who responded to the Minister said the matter had become a serious issue as some of these people who were in the camp had got out of it and living in private residences. “Some of the children of these people have been admitted to schools,” he said.
Minister Athokorala said MP Weerawansa could raise a question on the matter from the Ministry of Defence.
SLMC MP M. H. M. Salman who spoke later in the House said Sri Lanka should look at the Rohingya people in a compassionate manner. “It is true that Sri Lanka has not signed the UN Charter on refugees but it should look at an issue in a compassionate manner especially as Myanmar where the Rohingya people come from has been a friendly nation. “Both countries have worked together in promoting Buddhism and it is essential that this issue is looked at in a more positive manner,” he said.