Sri Lanka today said it will not decriminalise homosexuality, saying it did not want to cause "social problems" in the country, amid opposition from the "Buddhist clergy".
The Minister of Health Rajith Senaratne said, "We stand oppose to the request for decriminalising it. Even in some of the European Union nations the Catholic Church has opposed the move. Likewise we have the Buddhist clergy here."
Senaratne, however, said that no one will be prosecuted for being homosexual.
"The government is against homosexuality, but we will not prosecute anyone for practising it," he said.
The minister further said that the government did not want to create "social problems" by inviting a challenge to the law that makes homosexuality illegal and is punishable by up to 12 years of imprisonment.
The law criminalising homosexuality is based on the country's 1883 penal code, a legacy of British colonialism in Sri Lanka.
The EU has earlier asked Sri Lanka to comply with 27 conventions on civil and political rights, human rights and labour regulations, including decriminalisation of homosexuality, for the GSP+ preferred duty concessions for its exports.
Decriminalising homosexuality was also prescribed by the National Human Rights Action Plan to remove "discrimination based on sexual orientation".
The opposition has earlier charged that the government was trying to legalise homosexuality in order to win duty free concessions of GSP+ from the European Union.
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