RIYADH, 31 March 2005 — Sri Lankan expatriates in Saudi Arabia who applied for new passports through their embassy in Riyadh three months ago, are left in the lurch due to the inordinate delay in getting their travel documents from Colombo.
Some 350 passports are stuck in Colombo causing great inconvenience to the applicants who can neither travel nor renew their expired Iqamas without the new passports.
Sri Lankans are required to apply for new passports when they complete 10 years from the date of issue. The Sri Lankan Embassy here receives applications for new passports, sends them to Colombo for processing. The processed passports are sent back by the weekly diplomatic mail.
The embassy receives more than 50 desperate calls daily from these applicants who are anxious to know the fate of their new passports. In the past, new passports were issued to applicants within three weeks.
The President of the Sri Lankan Expatriates Society ( SLES) in Riyadh, Abdul Sattar Illyas told Arab News that this is a serious situation “causing distress to our countrymen due to the sheer negligence of bureaucrats in Colombo. We may have to take up this issue with higher authorities unless it is solved promptly,” he added. The Lankan Embassy in Riyadh receives an average of 100 applications for new passports, while its consulate in Jeddah gets 50 applications every a month.
