US Embassy urged to lift Arugam Bay travel advisory after heightened security

The Foreign Affairs Ministry has requested the United States (US) Embassy in Colombo to lift the security advisory currently in place, for US tourists and citizens to avoid visiting the Arugam Bay tourist zone until further notice.

The US Embassy issued a security advisory on October 23, warning US citizens that it had received reliable information that an attack may be made targeting popular tourist spots in the Arugam Bay area. The security alert issued on the US citizens indicated that US citizens in Sri Lanka are requested to refrain from travelling to Arugam Bay until further notice.

Subsequent to the travel advisory issued by the US Embassy, several other countries including the United Kingdom (UK), Canada and Israel followed suit by issuing travel advisories to their citizens to avoid traveling to these regions and to pay more attention to their security.

However, the Sri Lanka Police and the Public Security Ministry issuing a statement stated that according to foreign intelligence information received prior that there may be threats to the safety of the tourists specifically Israeli nationals, all necessary security measures have been already established and beefed up around the tourist zones and across the country covering the sea areas as well from October 7 onwards and therefore there is no need to have any fear about the security of tourists travelling in the country.

Also, the heightened security efforts have also led to the arrest of six suspects on several occasions in connection with the potential security risks who are currently in custody and further investigations are underway.

Defence Secretary Sampath Thuyacontha also visited the Eastern Province focusing specifically on the current security situation in the Arugam Bay area on Sunday (10) where he mentioned that the security of the area has been strengthened.

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