In an unexpected move, the Government has lifted the ban imposed on six international Tamil organisations, referred to commonly as “diaspora groups”, and 316 individuals, through an Amendment to the List of Designated Persons under Regulation 4(7) of the United Nations (UN) Regulations No. 1 of 2012. Among the delisted groups are the Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), Global Tamil Forum (GTF), World Tamil Co-ordinating Committee (WTCC), Tamil Eelam People’s Assembly (TEPA), Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), and British Tamil Forum (BTF). The extent to which this decision is prudent and advantageous is a major concern, the answer to which lies in the basis on which the Government took this decision. Many would agree that it is crucial that the people get an explanation as to the reasons for this decision, especially given the fact that successive governments, including a government headed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister, had continued the ban on many of the entities and individuals in the aforementioned list. However, that is not to say that this decision is a bad one. If dealt with according to a long-term and a mutually beneficial plan and good understanding, Sri Lanka and these diaspora groups could actually achieve a lot together. The best example would perhaps be these groups’ potential to assist Sri Lanka manage the foreign reserves crisis, which has led to or exacerbated all other crises the country is facing. In fact, some of these groups have claimed in the recent past that they are capable of bringing in a considerable amount of foreign currency and are willing to maintain closer ties with their motherland, even though the Government’s response did not appear to be very accommodating. At the same time, this could perhaps be a good starting point for these groups to actively and more closely engage with the Government to voice their concerns regarding the ethnic and other matters, and bring to the table suggestions local Tamil groups have not been able to. However, regardless of the reason for this decision, now that these groups have been delisted, one of the first things Sri Lanka has to do is addressing the fears and stigma surrounding the concept of diaspora. Owing mainly to the way in which the war between the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Government-led defense forces altered Sri Lanka social and ethnic affairs, especially in relation to the Tamil community, the term “diaspora” has become a dirty word. Even 13 years after the war, for many people, diaspora means Tamil people who live abroad while supporting the remaining members of the LTTE, pro-LTTE organisations, or those engaged in anti-Sri Lanka propaganda, when in reality, the term diaspora simply means people who have spread or been dispersed from their original homeland. What is more, politicians are to blame for reinforcing this erroneous and harmful notion among the people for narrow political advantage. It is time to change this situation if Sri Lanka is to build meaningful partnerships with Tamil diaspora groups, or with any diaspora groups irrespective of ethnic, religious or other identities, and the first steps should be educating the people that “diaspora” is not a bad word, and that joining hands with them based on a clear understanding about the role of every party involved can be immensely beneficial. However, we cannot forget that this decision comes in a context where the Government is slated to answer a plethora of hard-to-answer questions about Sri Lanka’s human rights situation and post-war reconciliation efforts, among other matters, at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session next month. It should be noted that this session is taking place in a context where Sri Lanka has further tarnished its human rights record during the past few months by violating the people’s rights to protest and freedom of expression as well as journalists’ right to report in broad daylight. What is more, an obvious crackdown is in progress in the name of enforcing the law in a bid to punish those who led and participated in anti-Government and anti-President protests, and the international community is well aware of these developments. In this context, if the delisting of the said entities and individuals is just another attempt to cover up Sri Lanka’s extremely slow reconciliation process and the recent fundamental rights violations, that will not be beneficial to Sri Lanka, simply because new good behavior does not erase past bad behavior. What happened and did not happen during and after the war, and what happened during the recent protests, will still be matters the people and the international community will be demanding answers for. If this decision was taken with the intention of strengthening ties with the migrated citizens who have distanced themselves from the country, that is a commendable move. However, to benefit from it, delisting these entities and individuals is insufficient, and soon, the Government should enter into discussions with them.