Switzerland and Sri Lanka plan closer cooperation

• Published date: 07 August 2018
• Publication title: Colombo Gazette

The Swiss justice minister, Simonetta Sommaruga, has agreed an extended migration partnership accord with Sri Lanka, Swiss info reported.

On Monday, Sommaruga signed a memorandum of understanding in the capital Colombo with the Sri Lankan interior minister, Seneviratne Bandara Nawinne, reaffirming their intention to facilitate and extend cooperation, according to the justice ministry.

Sommaruga said Switzerland planned to increase its support to Sri Lanka to promote democratic reform, a ministry statement said.

She added that the migration partnership set conditions for increased involvement for strengthening human rights and creating better prospects for young people in Sri Lanka through vocational training projects.

Sommaruga met the president, Maithripala Sirisena, as well as government ministers and representatives of the national human rights commission and several civil society organisations, including members of the strongest political party, the Tamil National Alliance.

During her four-day trip to the southeast Asian country, she will pay a visit to labour migration programme in the country led by the Swiss Agency for Development and...