11th August 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka
I spent this weekend on the coast near Galle, an immediate reminder of what a wonderful place Sri Lanka is to live and work. But though pleasure and leisure kept me there, it was work that took me. I’ve written recently about how our Consular team support British tourists in distress. On Friday, the team […]
10th July 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka and the Maldives have never been more popular for beach-lovers, backpackers or Brits: over 144,000 British tourists visited Sri Lanka last year, and almost 16,000 holidayed in the Maldives in February alone this year. Around five thousand British Nationals have set down permanent or semi-permanent roots here too. For the most part, travellers […]
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16th June 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka
For centuries, the Magna Carta, signed by King John at Runnymede in England in 1215, has been quoted to help promote human rights and alleviate suffering all around the world. This week, we are celebrating its 800th anniversary, and its continuing relevance today. To mark the anniversary, my colleagues at the UK Mission in Geneva hosted a […]
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28th April 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka
On Saturday 25 April, I laid a wreath at the Borella Kanatta Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Colombo, at one of the two events organised that day by the Australian High Commission to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Allied landings at Gallipoli during the First World War. It was an opportunity to reflect again […]
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6th February 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Hugo Swire, our Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, visited Sri Lanka last week. It’s always good to get in early, and his was the first bilateral visit to the new Government of Sri Lanka. It was an exciting opportunity for my Government to congratulate President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremasinghe face to face, and […]
26th December 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
For our final blog in our#TsunamiRemembered series, we turn to fiction, sometimes the best way to make sense of facts. Ramya Chamalie Jirasinghe is the author of Rhythm of the Sea and Trinity. Her 2011 book of poetry, There’s an Island in the Bone won the 2011 State Literary Joint Award for poetry. She was longlisted for […]
25th December 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
In our penultimate #TsunamiRemembered blog, Tesco, the MCC, an ancestral home and overwhelming compassion come together to help rural talent shine. Kushil Gunasekera describes his vision for Foundation of Goodness. I was born in the rural village of Seenigama, but educated in Colombo, and was always determined to bridge the gap between the rural and […]
24th December 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
This morning we held a short memorial in the office to remember those whose lives were taken away or damaged by the tsunami, and those who worked so tirelessly and generously to rebuild Sri Lanka. So it seems appropriate for our eighth blog to tell the stories of five long term members of British High […]
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23rd December 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Our seventh blog looks at the impact of the tsunami on marine life, and particularly the turtles for which Sri Lanka is famous. Dudley Perera founded the Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Project when he left school in 1988. He writes about recovering from the tsunami and the continuing threats to turtles. Situated on Sri Lanka’s […]
22nd December 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Our sixth blog is by Lynn Stanier, a specialist travel agent to Sri Lanka, organising holiday and sports tours. Lynn turned her immediate devastation into a long term determination to support vulnerable children. Immediately after the tsunami, I visited Sri Lanka with my son Ryan to volunteer and support the Sri Lankan people. I […]