A Scots woman who had her passport removed by Sri Lankan officials after documenting a civil uprising in the country has failed in her bid to keep her visa.
Kayleigh Fraser's appeal against the removal of her residence permit last week has been refused by Sri Lanka's Supreme Court, according to media in the country. Sri Lankan outlet News1st says Justice Sobitha Rajakaruna dismissed her appeal without hearing the arguments, on the grounds that she had failed to produce "sufficient facts" for it to go ahead.
The 34-year-old, from St Andrews, has been living in Sri Lanka since 2021, but came to the attention of authorities after she began sharing videos of the "Aragalaya", or "struggle", on social media. The civil protest movement began earlier this year amid spiralling inflation and dwindling supplies of essentials and led to the departure of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa on July 21.
Officials turned up at her home on August 2 and removed her passport, and her medical visa was cancelled just over a week later. She had hoped to reverse the decision with an appeal to the country's highest court, backed by activist lawyer Nagananda Kodituwakku.
However, Justice Rajakaruna said "no reasons have been mentioned to establish her rights to continue to stay in the country". In a statement provided to the Record, Kayleigh said she was "not surprised" to see the appeal fall, believing she has been targeted for sharing images of the protests online.
She said: "The Immigration office told the court that their decision to revoke my visa was mainly founded on fraudulent documents in my visa application. I do not know whether these documents are something they have created, or the visa company who handled my visa application created.
"It is very clear to me that the government took a decision some time ago to remove me from this country due to my social media coverage of the protests here in Colombo. It seems they will use underhand measures even to do this.
"Given what I have witnessed here in Colombo - the chemical weapons attacks on protestors, the government instructing the military to beat and torture protestors, the arbitrary arrests and blackmailing of prominent faces from the protests, intimidation tactics and threats etc - I should not be surprised at what has happened today."
In his written ruling, the judge said: "I am of the view that in the absence of any reasons establishing the rights of the Petitioner [Kayleigh] to continue to stay in the country, I should not use my discretion to review the decision of the Controller of Department of Immigration and Emigration.
"Further, it is observed that the Petitioner has failed to submit sufficient grounds to invoke the writ jurisdiction of this Court.
"Considering all the circumstances of this case, I take the view that the Petitioner has failed to submit a prima facie case warranting this Court to issue formal notice on the Respondents [the immigration department]. I proceed to refuse this application."
A state of emergency is in effect across Sri Lanka as the country's new president Ranil Wickremesinghe cracks down on dissenting protesters. His actions, including the forced evacuation of a protest camp and alleged attacks on journalists, have been criticised by civil liberties organisations.
Under the existing state of affairs Sri Lankan authorities can detain and question people without probable cause. Human Rights Watch has accused the government of carrying out "intimidation, surveillance and arbitrary arrests of demonstrators, civil society activists, lawyers and journalists".
The Foreign Office has warned against travelling to the country. Holiday operators have also cancelled flights to the country amid the ongoing national crisis.
The actions of the government against Kayleigh have been condemned by the Sri Lankan Youth Overseas Federation, a campaign group that seeks to freeze the overseas assets of Sri Lankan politicians accused of corruption.
It said: "Miss Fraser has been a great advocate in her support for people protesting the country's economic crisis. The accusations and investigations placed against her, and the initimidating tactics used by immigration authorities, are concerning and unjustified."
Sri Lankan authorities have not responded to the Record's requests for comment.
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