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| Sunday, 26 September 2004 |
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Deported Lankan dissuades UK winter tourists by Reggie Fernando Once deported Sri Lankan Viraj Mendis branded in Britain as a 'bogus asylum seeker' almost fifteen years ago, has returned to his former sanctuary in Manchester and is making damaging statements about his motherland in an attempt to frighten off winter tourists to the island. It will be recalled the 'Sunday Observer' published exclusively stories on Viraj Mendis when during the Thatcher government over 40 law enforcement officers together with immigration officials captured Mendis from his hiding place - the Church of the Ascension - and according to Britain's prestigious broadsheet The Guardian Mendis is on a two week visit 'to raise awareness about the threat of renewed war in Sri Lanka. Mendis managed to re-enter Britain as he escaped to Germany from Sri Lanka an year after his deportation and married an English woman. Worried Sri Lankan travel firms engaged in filling the December winter flights with long haul holiday-makers seeking to soak the island's sun have complained to the High Commission about the gravity of such statements. They have also addressed letters to The Guardian stating that Mendis's remarks are totally exaggerated and far from the true situation. |
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