(Lanka-e-News -02.July.2025, 11.10 PM) We, as Immigration and Emigration officers, have not inconvenienced air passengers with any professional action so far. It is not our intention to inconvenience the general public like health workers or railway employees and get our demands met. However, I responsibly inform you that no authority has taken any action to present sustainable solutions to these problems that have been going on for years and has always made false promises. It must be said that the reason we do not have a media spokesperson at present is because of the influence of high-ranking officials. Due to the following issues, we are constantly being criticized because no one knows the suffering and problems we are facing. Since these problems are difficult to bear any longer, we now need public support. Although other controllers and other officers of the department are accused of corruption, the media reports it as an accusation of corruption by an Immigration and Emigration officer.. Therefore, we are being subjected to various inconveniences from society, friends or acquaintances. Not every government employee is an Immigration and Emigration Officer after serving in the department. As an Immigration and Emigration Officer, this is only a small part of the problems we have. The accusation from all sides has been "They just don't serve the people in a friendly manner. So where do the tourists come from?" If you examine the issues mentioned below, you will understand that we cannot serve freely and efficiently keeping these issues in mind. We cannot tolerate these any longer. Therefore, we need your great support to at least inform the public and reduce the accusations leveled against us and reduce the pressure on us a little. I request you to intervene in this as soon as possible.
SLAS Over-Dominance: Blocking Career Growth of Immigration Officers
From the grade of Assistant Controller upwards , the majority of positions are occupied by officers from the Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS) . While we respect their administrative capacity, this over-dependence has produced harmful effects:
* Career Immigration Officers, who have spent years in operational service, are consistently bypassed.
* SLAS officers typically serve for short tenures , make externally motivated decisions , and often lack the practical knowledge needed in border and migration matters.
* Key decisions are influenced by external requests — from airlines, political intermediaries, and others — compromising the department's neutrality.
* During the last government era SLAS officers even threatened Defense Secretary Mr. Kamal Gunarathne when he agreed to help us regarding solving our service minute issue.
* Some branches like the Visa branch, Overseas Management & citizenship branch should really be run by former immigration officers. Deputy Controllers of those branches should be appointed from immigration officers
* Many times SLAS people had purposely delayed our letters regarding our issues.
* Previous Director General of Management Service Department & Public Service Committee also often blocked us.
* We tried an innocent union action last year (wearing black strips in our hands) without troubling passengers. Even that was threatened by Senior Immigration officers, Deputy Controller Mr. Sujeewa Rathnayake & former Controller General Mr. Ilukpitiya. Senior Immigration officers who threatened us were depending on Mr. Ilukpitiya & Mr. Sujeewa Rathnayake.
* SLAS dominance is a mafia to our department. Officers who spoke against wrong procedures had faced many false corruption accusations.
Most immigration services globally are led by career professionals , ensuring operational independence and institutional memory. We respectfully request that Sri Lanka move towards this model. As an example, most countries' administrations have appointed a Former Experienced Immigration Officer as the head of the department (Controller General), who exactly identifies operational procedures, operational issues & grievances . But our scenario is just like "Fisherman is managing a tea plantation estate"
* A fee of USD 50 per passenger is charged for Fast Track services. The Immigration Department receives only USD 2 , while the remainder is distributed among other parties under unclear and unaccountable arrangements.
* Over the past 18 months , more than Rs. 16.7 million has been collected — yet not a single rupee has been allocated for the welfare of immigration officers.
* There are credible concerns that senior officials may be misusing these funds for entertainment or personal expenses, without proper approval or transparency.
* I should say attending fast track duties while completing normal duties is really difficult, since they lack officers & excessive walking distance. Think about delaying 15-20 passengers for clearing one fast track/silk route passenger. To clear one fast track passenger an officer should come down from the Emigration area & walk to the corner of the airline ticket checking area. Even after making such a contribution, the Immigration department receives only 2 USD.
* Officers are assigned 6 consecutive day shifts and 6 consecutive night shifts each month.
* Night shifts last 16 hours (from 5 PM to 9 AM), far exceeding standard labor norms.
* Officers receive no night duty or medical allowances , despite multiple formal requests. We are revealed to UV light scanners. Officers who are allocated in harbors receive excess of risk while visiting ships
* Allegations persist that senior management is deliberately delaying the submission of allowance requests to bodies like the Public Service Commission and Ministry of Finance.
Sri Lankan Public Sector Regulations (Establishment Code, PSC Rules):
* Normal duty : 8 hours per day (including a break).
* Maximum working hours should align with public administration standards, and any shift over 12 hours is considered irregular and must be approved by higher authorities (eg, Secretary to the Ministry, PSC).
* Night duty allowances and health protections are mandatory where applicable.
* Continuous 16-hour shifts , especially 6 in a row, can violate:
Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) regulations
Employee rights to adequate rest
Welfare provisions for public servants
Labor Laws (Shop and Office Employees Act, Factories Ordinance):
While these primarily apply to the private sector, they set a minimum bar :
* Over 9 hours per day or 45 hours per week triggers overtime pay .
* Employees are entitled to:
One rest day per week
At least 1-hour break for every 6 hours of work
* Officers at the crew counters manage high-pressure tasks involving airline staff, diplomats, and special needs passengers. We like to offer our dedicated assistant to special needs passengers, but we face unbearable stress during the operation of this counter.
* The Department has offered us an incentive scheme based on the number of passengers cleared per month, but incentive unchanged for over 7 years and no incentive for clearing airline crew & clearance of bonds regarding seamans , although they still require clearance.
* Officers at the Visa on Arrival counter handle sensitive operations involving cash and security checks but receive no incentives at all .
* Officers were recently instructed to operate a new Business Class immigration counter — without:
any official circular or gazette notification,
any additional staffing or resources,
any formal incentive or legal protection.
* These unregulated duties lead to passenger conflicts and operational risks. When officers refused to continue without legal basis, they were threatened with disciplinary action .
* We are not asking for a legal basis for this counter activation. This has often caused arguments among passengers & officers. Due to the current layout & situation other passengers may not understand why business class passengers can come without a que to an immigration officer. Immigration officers were often accused of providing such service.
* The current clearance system is technologically outdated , lacking essential security features such as facial recognition and fingerprint verification .
* System delays and crashes are frequent, affecting both efficiency and border security. 09/11/2023 caused a significant system delay for half a day & 01/07/2025 caused an hour delay. So due to these reasons passengers including tourists/foreigners who travel across Sri Lanka had to wait in the queue more than 4 hours and 01 hour respectively. Those two days are dates which caused the biggest system crash in the past few months. But even if there is no significant delay every day, we often face system errors & buffering leading to an inefficient passenger clearance. Imagine a tourist who is coming to Sri Lanka for the first time & experiences this bad situation. Immigration officers at the airport have to bear this burden & answer the accusations raised by passengers. Not even administration in the Head Office of the Department of Immigration & relevant Minister.
* Above system delay is mainly due to outdated server machines in the department. Authorities have not taken relevant steps to update these servers on time during last 11 years/
* Alarmingly, the entire system is managed by a private company (Informatics) , with no immigration officers involved — posing major security and operational risks.
* Unlike many other countries, Sri Lanka does not have immigration officers posted in its embassies or consulates overseas.
* This leads to frequent misinformation being given to migrant workers and travelers by unqualified individuals, resulting in:
disputes at immigration counters,
unjust blame on frontline officers, and
pressure from senior management during crisis situations.
* Deploying trained officers to embassies would greatly reduce such incidents and improve accuracy in visa and travel guidance.
* The current layout does not allow officers to visually assess or profile passengers before they reach the counter.
* Camera placements force officers to constantly twist their necks, resulting in chronic neck pain and physical strain .
* Passengers also experience confusion and delays, as it is difficult to identify which counters are available.
* We urgently call for the layout to be reviewed with input from frontline officers and designed based on ergonomic and operational safety standards .
The department is currently operating with a deficit of over 100 officers , putting pressure on frontline services and border control functions. We urgently recommend that at least 200 Immigration Officers be recruited through the July 2025 competitive examination , to fill current gaps and prepare for future needs.
These days, normally immigration officers will have to stay in the queue at least 15 years to be promoted as Senior Authorized Officers/Senior Immigration Officers.
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by (2025-07-02 21:00:29)
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