Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2012-07-18

Establishment of a National Coordinating Committee on Re-admission (NCCR)

- Sri Lanka has entered into several bilateral arrangements with a number of countries to regulate the repatriation of asylum seekers and persons of Sri Lankan nationality who are residing in those countries without authorization. The Agreement on Re-admission of persons residing without authorization signed with the European Community is one such Agreement. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is supporting the Government of Sri Lanka for the effective implementation of the Re-admission Agreement under the EU Funded Project titled "Support to the Governments of Pakistan and Sri Lanka for the implementation of Re-admission Agreements with the European Community". The proposal made by Hon. (Prof.) G.L. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs, for the formal establishment of the National Coordinating Committee on Re-admission (NCCR), to guide and negotiate future Re-admission Agreements with other countries and to attend to matters connected thereto, was approved by the Cabinet.