Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles says that action will be taken against the person who caused a disturbance at the visa issuing section of Katunayake Airport and the officers who recorded the incident.
He further insisted that VFS Global , the company came under controversy over the visa issuing in Sri Lanka is mot an Indian firm.
Minister Alles said this while participating in a special press conference today.
According to the Minister The proposal regarding the new visa system was passed unanimously in the Parliament on November 23 without a debate .Although it was passed in November, the change could not be implemented through the ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) system, so he had to wait until April 17 to do it through the VFS system Alles firther said.
Clarifying on the recent accusations
Mr. Alles says that VFS is an international company that is mostly owned by the Black Stone Group, and its other shareholder is the Cooney Company of Germany.
The VFS company cannot take any action regarding the issuance or rejection of visas and said that decisions regarding the issuance and rejection of visas are made only by the Immigration Department of Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, the Minister also mentioned that the VFS Institute has issued an announcement regarding the controversial situation.
And recently, through the controversial video related to the behavior of a Sri Lankan passenger at the Katunayake Bandaranaike Airport premises, he stated that this institution was an Indian institution, but dismissing it, the Minister said that at that time, 13 Sri Lankans were working as employees at the visa counters.
The minister said in this press conference that although the protest regarding this matter was raised on or around May 1st, the VFS started its operations at the airport premises on April 17th.
“We were sent a proposal regarding VFS. Everyone who goes to the country knows what VFS is. It is a company that is used by 67 governments in 151 countries in about 3,300 centers. There is no one to compete with that service. They are number one in the world. Every country in the world uses VFS. ” Minister said