MP: What has scheme really achieved?
An MP who has campaigned to raise awareness of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka has called on Police Scotland to explain what their controversial training programme has achieved.
The SNP’s Westminster Justice and Immigration spokeswoman, Anne McLaughlin, has for years tried to raise awareness of conditions in Sri Lanka, after living there.
She said: “I’ve personally met children who were forced to watch as their father was shot dead in front of them, men, women and children who have been raped, and witnessed the heartbreak of families whose loved ones have disappeared.
“The 30-year civil war ended long ago in Sri Lanka. But for many Tamil families, they are still living in fear of kidnap and torture.
“I’ve spent years trying to raise awareness of the human rights abuses and torture that has continued in Sri Lanka, and I’m convinced if a stance was taken by other countries against what is happening there, then they will have to take notice and change.”
The MP for Glasgow North East has repeatedly asked the UK Government to implement sanctions against Sri Lanka.
McLaughlin has now pledged to write to Police Scotland over their training of the Sri Lankan force.
She said: “I will be asking them to assess what impact or improvement their training programme has had on the Sri Lankan police and the way they behave.”
The MP spent more than a year working in Sri Lanka before being elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2009 and Westminster in 2019, and has remained firm friends with many of the people she met there.
However, she has remained an outspoken critic of the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose brother Malinda is prime minister and other brothers serve in the Sri Lankan government.
The MP said: “The Sri Lankans are wonderful, friendly people who faced enormous challenges following the civil war. While many things have changed for the better, it is still a fact of life for far too many Tamils that torture and disappearances are still happening. We cannot stand back and stay silent.”