By Sarah Hannan
As Sri Lankans, we are all too familiar with seeking refuge, seeking asylum, and being internally displaced. Yet, it was a little-known fact that Sri Lanka had opened its doors to asylum seekers and refugees who are fleeing religious and political persecution in their home countries. Having not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, Sri Lanka was left without a national policy/framework to grant refugee/asylum status.
However, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), with the assistance of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), registers asylum seekers and hosts them until their asylum papers are vetted and approved from the prospective countries they have applied for. Essentially, Sri Lanka functions as a transit point, yet processing paperwork could take well up to five years.
Over the years, there have been reports of refugees being attacked by angry mobs and pressurising the GoSL to send them to other refugee host countries. With the renewed threat to national security following the Easter Sunday attacks of 21 April, aggravated mobs turned to the refugees and asylum seekers who were living in Negombo.
At least 1,500 asylum seekers and refugees whose countries of origin are Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, and a few other countries, fell victim to these mob attacks. All of them are registered with the UNHCR office in Colombo and the area police station. Since there are no designated refugee camps set up in Sri Lanka for outside refugees, the families rented houses and rooms, until their permanent resettlement to the West was processed by UNHCR.
Growing tension
Speaking to The Sunday Morning under conditions of anonymity, one of the Pakistani Ahmadi refugees stated that prior to the incident, most of the neighborhoods that he and the others lived in had friendly attitudes towards them. “Just after the explosions occurred, we received screenshots of the breaking news through a WhatsApp chat.
The messages further stated that the Islamic State terror group was involved in it. Tensions were building up around our homes and I got messages that mobs were starting to attack some of the safe houses in Periyamulla.”
He further stated that most of these mob attacks came in the form of the community being called racial slurs and asking them to return to their country of origin, assuming they are Muslims. “We are Ahmadiyya Muslims and we fled Pakistan since they presume that we are not Muslims according to their books. There were a few more families who fled Pakistan as they are now converts and are Christian devotees. The mob clearly couldn’t tell the difference and started to verbally intimidate the refugees based on our country of origin.”
As soon as the reports started to trickle in, the refugees had called the Negombo police station and alerted the UNHCR office in Colombo. “The Police officers and some rangers from the Community Defence Service arrived and evacuated us from our homes, following the calls.”
Due to the growing tension in the area and misperceptions among the local community, these refugees were forced out of their homes.
Since 21 April, there are approximately 200 people staying at the Negombo police station, about 300 at a mosque in Colombo, and about 650 at a mosque in Pasyala. With over a week of moving to their temporary shelter, infants, children, and elderly people have started to fall sick due to inadequate sanitary facilities.
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Since 21 April, angry crowds have threatened and assaulted primarily Muslim South Asian migrants. Media and local activists reported that nearly 1,000 refugees and asylum seekers were displaced after landlords came under local pressure to evict them. Many have sought safety at nearby mosques or at the police station in Negombo, following the tense situation.
“Sri Lankan authorities not only have a responsibility to apprehend those responsible for the heinous Easter Sunday attacks, but also to protect all those who are now at heightened risk. This means providing safe and secure shelter for refugees and asylum seekers, and also taking prompt legal action against anyone who threatens them. Fostering cooperation by all of the country’s religious and ethnic groups is crucial for the safety of all,” Human Rights Watch South Asia Director Meenakshi Ganguly stated.
The authorities were forced to cease efforts to relocate them to suitable neighbouring areas with proper facilities because of protests from local communities. Activists reported that on at least four occasions, busloads of frightened migrants including children, older people, and others with special needs who were travelling to safer areas had to return to the overcrowded Negombo police station.
Most of the primarily Pakistani and Afghan migrants are Muslim, but they also include Christians. Several hundred migrants are now staying at the Ahmadiyya mosque in Negombo while others have been sheltered in a local school.
UNHCR Spokesperson for Asia Babar Baloch told the media that refugees reported being “the targets of threats and intimidation”. He said that: “The UNHCR is working closely with local and national authorities who have been very supportive and helpful to ensure the security and safety of all refugees and asylum seekers during this time of heightened anxiety and concern.”
The origins of Ahmadiyya Muslims
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a dynamic, fast-growing international revival movement within Islam. Founded in 1889, it spans over 200 countries with membership exceeding tens of millions.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the only Islamic organisation to believe that the long-awaited Messiah came in person as Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qadian.
He divested Islam of fanatical beliefs and practices by vigorously championing Islam’s true and essential teachings. He also recognised the noble teachings of the great religious founders and saints including Zoroaster, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Guru Nanak, and explained how such teachings converged into the one true Islam.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the leading Islamic organisation to categorically reject terrorism in any form. Over a century ago, Ahmad emphatically declared that an aggressive “jihad by the sword” has no place in Islam. In its place, he taught his followers to wage a bloodless, intellectual “jihad of the pen” to defend Islam. To this end, Ahmad penned over 90 books and tens of thousands of letters, delivered hundreds of lectures, and engaged in scores of public debates.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning under conditions of anonymity, one of the Pakistani Ahmadi refugees stated that prior to the incident, most of the neighborhoods that he and the others lived in had friendly attitudes towards them. “Just after the explosions occurred, we received screenshots of the breaking news through a WhatsApp chat.
The messages further stated that the Islamic State terror group was involved in it. Tensions were building up around our homes and I got messages that mobs were starting to attack some of the safe houses in Periyamulla.”
He further stated that most of these mob attacks came in the form of the community being called racial slurs and asking them to return to their country of origin, assuming they are Muslims. “We are Ahmadiyya Muslims and we fled Pakistan since they presume that we are not Muslims according to their books. There were a few more families who fled Pakistan as they are now converts and are Christian devotees. The mob clearly couldn’t tell the difference and started to verbally intimidate the refugees based on our country of origin.”
As soon as the reports started to trickle in, the refugees had called the Negombo police station and alerted the UNHCR office in Colombo. “The Police officers and some rangers from the Community Defence Service arrived and evacuated us from our homes, following the calls.”
Due to the growing tension in the area and misperceptions among the local community, these refugees were forced out of their homes.
Since 21 April, there are approximately 200 people staying at the Negombo police station, about 300 at a mosque in Colombo, and about 650 at a mosque in Pasyala. With over a week of moving to their temporary shelter, infants, children, and elderly people have started to fall sick due to inadequate sanitary facilities.
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Since 21 April, angry crowds have threatened and assaulted primarily Muslim South Asian migrants. Media and local activists reported that nearly 1,000 refugees and asylum seekers were displaced after landlords came under local pressure to evict them. Many have sought safety at nearby mosques or at the police station in Negombo, following the tense situation.
“Sri Lankan authorities not only have a responsibility to apprehend those responsible for the heinous Easter Sunday attacks, but also to protect all those who are now at heightened risk. This means providing safe and secure shelter for refugees and asylum seekers, and also taking prompt legal action against anyone who threatens them. Fostering cooperation by all of the country’s religious and ethnic groups is crucial for the safety of all,” Human Rights Watch South Asia Director Meenakshi Ganguly stated.
The authorities were forced to cease efforts to relocate them to suitable neighbouring areas with proper facilities because of protests from local communities. Activists reported that on at least four occasions, busloads of frightened migrants including children, older people, and others with special needs who were travelling to safer areas had to return to the overcrowded Negombo police station.
Most of the primarily Pakistani and Afghan migrants are Muslim, but they also include Christians. Several hundred migrants are now staying at the Ahmadiyya mosque in Negombo while others have been sheltered in a local school.
UNHCR Spokesperson for Asia Babar Baloch told the media that refugees reported being “the targets of threats and intimidation”. He said that: “The UNHCR is working closely with local and national authorities who have been very supportive and helpful to ensure the security and safety of all refugees and asylum seekers during this time of heightened anxiety and concern.”
The origins of Ahmadiyya Muslims
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a dynamic, fast-growing international revival movement within Islam. Founded in 1889, it spans over 200 countries with membership exceeding tens of millions.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the only Islamic organisation to believe that the long-awaited Messiah came in person as Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qadian.
He divested Islam of fanatical beliefs and practices by vigorously championing Islam’s true and essential teachings. He also recognised the noble teachings of the great religious founders and saints including Zoroaster, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Guru Nanak, and explained how such teachings converged into the one true Islam.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the leading Islamic organisation to categorically reject terrorism in any form. Over a century ago, Ahmad emphatically declared that an aggressive “jihad by the sword” has no place in Islam. In its place, he taught his followers to wage a bloodless, intellectual “jihad of the pen” to defend Islam. To this end, Ahmad penned over 90 books and tens of thousands of letters, delivered hundreds of lectures, and engaged in scores of public debates.