Inspector General of Police (IGP), Pujith Jayasundara, says that although Sri Lanka is now free from conventional terrorism, they are very much mindful of the threat of its citizens joining foreign terrorist organizations.

“Sri Lanka is a country which suffered immensely from terrorism for well over three decades. It is with great pride that I mention that we have successfully rooted out terrorism in the year 2009,” the police chief said, addressing the 85th INTERPOL General Assembly.

He said that now Sri Lankan undergoes the post-conflict phase and is focused on reconciliation, rehabilitation and development of the conflict affected areas.

With decades of firsthand experience, we in Sri Lankan law enforcement know that combating terrorism is not an easy task, Jayasundara said. “I would like to inform this forum that, we must have a clear and common definition for terrorism.”

He said that today the definition of terrorism is diverse, based on different geographies and ideologies. Without common definition, it would be difficult to combat terrorism, the IGP stressed.

He said the other factor is that, in order to combat international terrorism, law enforcement agencies need to work under different jurisdictions. This has to be addressed so that cross-border cooperation of security agencies is facilitated, according to Jayasundara.

“Although Sri Lanka is now free from conventional terrorism, we are very much mindful of the threat of its citizens joining foreign terrorist organizations. It was recently revealed that a Sri Lankan national was killed in Syria in the year 2015,” he said.

More than 1,200 representatives of member countries of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) gathered in Indonesia’s resort island of Bali for the 85th Interpol General Assembly, under the theme “Setting a Global Roadmap for International Policing.” It is being held from 7-10 November, 2016.