A wall of silence at Lanka’s embassy in Berlin

Many Sri Lankans needing consular services from their embassy in in Germany’s capital of Berlin would be grateful if the mission, at least answers phone calls. But the frustrating situation, The Sunday Times found, is not entirely the embassy’s fault.

One Sri Lankan professional desiring to renew his passport through the mission returned to Colombo this month, after his efforts get it done repeatedly failed. He said several others he knew did the same.

“I emailed the embassy in July seeking an appointment. I received a response in September saying there were no appointments available for several months,” he said.

He continued to call the mission every day for weeks. But there was no answer.

As he lived nearly 450km away from Berlin, he did not want to waste several days travelling back and forth from the mission without knowing he could get the service he required.

Sri Lankan missions in nearby countries who did answer their phones, told him they could not process his passport as the Berlin mission was still active and it was the job of the officers there.

With the document expiring in January, he flew to Colombo in frustration and got the renewal carried out directly at the Immigration and Emigration Department. Other friends did the same, he said.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Affairs Ministry officials said there might be challenges dealing with queries fielded to the mission in Berlin. One was an issue several other

Sri Lankan embassies and high commissions also faced-the telephone systems are relics from the past.

“In the Berlin mission, someone who telephones might hear a ringtone and feel it is going to be answered but at the same time an officer at the mission is fielding another call. He or she can handle only one call at a time,” the official said.

Separately, Sri Lanka’s consulate in Frankfurt--which had three consular officers and handled a bulk of consular work--closed down in April and its work fell on the Berlin mission. The two consular officers there found they had to not only handle their own backlog, ongoing work and queries, they had to take on additional tasks. New employees were not hired.

To make matters worse, the Berlin mission had only one diplomatic officer till around three weeks ago. The last Ambassador, Manori Unamboowe, a marcher left in August. Not even the phone line was fixed during her period.

In the Berlin mission, someone who telephones might hear a ringtone and feel it is going to be answered but at the same time an officer at the mission is fielding another call. He or she can handle only one call at a time