Sri Lankan authorities have passed new rules making it compulsory for tourists to apply for special permits to visit a former conflict zone in the north of the country.
Citing security concerns, permits will be issued in advance to prevent ‘negative interventions’ the defence ministry said.
The defence ministry statement gave no explanation as to what concerns it has in the region, but said foreign visitors are required inform authorities of the ‘objectives and purposes of the projects or other reasons for which they intend to travel’.
The military said that rules barring foreigners from visiting the north was never removed completely after the war in 2009 but was rarely implemented in practice.
Most of the tourism industry was taken by surprise by the move, as foreign visitors were turned away at security checkpoints during President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to the region last week.
Once the heartland of Tamil guerilla forces during a decades-long struggle for autonomy, the region has been largely peaceful for the past five years with a burgeoning tourism industry developing.
