A diplomat attached to the US Embassy in Colombo was given clearance to leave the Airport without undergoing a PCR or COVID-19 test, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said.
An official from the Civil Aviation Authority said the diplomat arrived had been told to remain in the airport until clearance, as Airport officials had to verify the procedure of conducting PCR tests on foreign diplomats.
“Since this was the very first case of someone with diplomatic immunity arriving, we consulted all relevant government officials including those at the Presidential Secretariat and Foreign Relations Ministry to follow, while the diplomat was waiting for four hours at the airport,” Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Limited Chairman Maj. Gen. (Rtd.) G. A. Chandrasiri told Daily Mirror Newspaper.
Airport and Aviation Services Vice Chairman Rajeewasiri Sooriyaarachchi earlier told media that the diplomat had refused to undergo a PCR test owing to diplomatic privileges.
Meanwhile, US Embassy spokesperson Nancy VanHorn said that US diplomatic staff adhere carefully to Sri Lankan COVID-19 guidelines, including quarantine restrictions, in close coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Relations.
She said that the arrival of US diplomatic staff to Sri Lanka also complies with the norms and procedures outlined in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, just as it applies to arrival of Sri Lankan and other diplomatic staff to the United States.
Former MP Namal Rajapaksa had posted following Tweet over the incident.
Reports regarding a US diplomat refusing PCR tests at BIA is so disappointing. Vienna Convention or not, the world’s in the midst of a global pandemic & what we need more than ever is cooperation & respect of one another’s national frameworks which are put in place to save lives.
— Namal Rajapaksa (@RajapaksaNamal) June 4, 2020