• Says SL maintains non-aligned foreign policy  

In the wake of criticisms made by Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader and Parliamentarian Rauff Hakeem regarding the Government's plans to send 10,000 Sri Lankans to Israel for employment, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara opined that political parties based on ethnicities or religions should be banned.

Speaking to the media in Colombo, Nanayakkara claimed that political parties have been using racism to their advantage for decades. With elections scheduled to be held next year (2024), he claimed that some political groups were trying to use racism again for what he claimed to be their own narrow benefit.“Political parties on ethnic or religious lines should be removed from politics. That is when racism can be stamped out."

Claiming that the Government had condemned Hamas’ killing of Israeli civilians, he said that the Government had also condemned the attacks on Gaza by Israel. "As a country, we are neither on the side of Israel nor Palestine. We work on a non-aligned basis. In spite of that, some people have started talking with the intention of increasing their votes. They talk about sending workers to Israel with a racial overtone. It is an attempt to rekindle racism in this country," Nanayakkara charged.

The Labour Minister said that there was an existing agreement between Sri Lanka and Israel with regard to the recruitment of workers from Sri Lanka. “If we are asked to send workers to Palestine, and if there is a safe environment for them, we will do it. If workers are requested by Russia or Ukraine, if there is adequate security, we will send workers. We are looking at the safety of the workers. We are a non-aligned country."

Hakeem recently criticised the Government's preparations to send more Sri Lankans to Israel for employment, and called on the Government to be more sensitive on the matter. "Sending our workers to a country that is committing war crimes is like sending workers to Nazi Germany when Hitler was killing Jews and there were labour shortages. We have to be sensitive at a time like this. This is like trying to light a cigarette with the flames of burning Palestinian houses," he said.