A Canadian MP of Tamil-origin today said she was intimidated by Sri Lankan authorities during a visit to her birthplace in war-ravaged Jaffna.
Rathika Sitsabeisan, 32, said she had arrived in Sri Lanka to visit her extended family and to visit the places that were once home for her. Sitsabeisan claimed that she was subject to political intimidation.
"I was warned that I could be subject to arrest and deportation, as several commonwealth MPs from New Zealand and Australia recently faced. My experiences since arriving in Sri Lanka are a reminder that defending principles of human rights is not easy," said the New Democrats lawmaker.
Sitsabaiesan, who immigrated to Canada when she was five years old, was elected to the House of Commons in 2011.
Authorities here were irked by her visit to the war- battered Tamil heartland in northern Sri Lanka. She had met several Tamil politicians during her ongoing visit.
The authorities claimed she had arrived on a tourist visa and therefore should restrict herself to tourism purposes only.
In November, two politicians from Australia and New Zealand, who were on a fact-finding mission into alleged human rights violation during the country's nearly three-decade-long civil war, were detained.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka police claimed that Sitsabeisan wants herself arrested in the country so that she could gain popularity to win votes back home in Canada.
Ajith Rohana, the Senior Superintendent and the Police spokesperson, however, clarified that police have "no plans to arrest her".
