COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

7 MARCH 2012 SRI LANKA
―The Sri Lankan police recruits personnel directly at three levels: probationary assistant
superintendent of police, probationary sub-inspector of police and police constable.
There is little if any chance of promotion from constable to senior rank. A six-month
training programme is intended to impart traditional police skills as well as provide
instruction in the role of the police in the community and the criminal justice system.
Induction training includes: origin and nature of police work; general police
responsibilities; elements of organisation and administration; ethics; language skills;
operations and patrol systems (techniques, tactics and patrol); and the handling of
public disorder. As of 2008, new recruits are inducted into the Police Academy which
was formed through the amalgamation of the Police Higher Training Institute and the In-
Service Training Division.‖
8.07 Additional information on the Sri Lankan police is available from their website,
accessible from here.
8.08 A letter from the British High Commission, Colombo dated 13 August 2010 126 , reported
that:
‖A Senior Military Official in Jaffna told us that the Sri Lankan government had been
encouraging the Tamil population to join the security forces. He added that whilst the Sri
Lankan Army had received no applicants, the police had recruited 450 Tamil officers
who were currently undertaking training. With regard to language training, the Sri
Lankan Army had conducted an extensive programme and 40% of their personnel now
spoke Tamil.‖
8.09 However, with regards to the latter issue, on 28 June 2010 Irin News 127 reported that:
―...less than 15 percent of the area‘s 15,000-strong police force can speak… [Tamil]
said Nimal Lewke, senior deputy police inspector-general of the Northern Province. In
the region where Tamil Tigers waged war for an independent Tamil homeland, matters
of language are intricately linked with identity. Although the region is at peace, language
remains a strong dividing barrier. ‗Winning hearts and minds is a popular slogan today
after the war, but we have to be very practical. We have to understand each other to
gain the trust of each other. Language proficiency in the police force is thus critical,‘
Lewke said.
―Some describe the shortage of Tamil-speaking police in the Northern Province - an
8,884sqkm region home to 1.3 million people - as one of the most pressing
humanitarian concerns.
―In 2009, the police department started offering monthly bonuses to officers who could
speak Tamil, while books teaching Tamil were introduced at police stations. The
government, meanwhile, now works with the Asian Development Bank to provide Tamil
language courses for police officers.‖
125 Jane’s Sentinel Country Risk Assessments, Country Report, Sri Lanka,
http://sentinel.janes.com/docs/sentinel/SASS_country.jsp?Prod_Name=SASS&Sent_Country=Sri%20La
nka& [subscription only] date accessed 3 February 2012, Security and foreign forces, 4 January 2012
126 British High Commission, Colombo, letter dated 13 August 2010
127 Irin, Sri Lanka: Post-war recovery snagged by language hurdle, 28 June 2010
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89651 date accessed 26 August 2010
The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.
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