Sri Lanka has opened talks with Israel to secure the release of Sameera Mehboobdeen, a Sri Lankan activist detained after the latest Global Sumud Flotilla interception, with the embassy in Tel Aviv formally requesting consular access, ministers told reporters and Parliament on Tuesday.
“We received unofficial reports yesterday, and we have started interceding,” Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told reporters, EconomyNext reported. He said Israel had a pattern of intercepting flotilla members in international waters before imprisoning or deporting them, with the convoy carrying international activists, doctors and nurses delivering medical and humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip.
In a more detailed statement to Parliament, Deputy Foreign Minister Arun Hemachandra confirmed Sri Lanka’s embassy in Tel Aviv has formally requested consular access from Israeli authorities to confirm Mehboobdeen’s present condition, ensure her safety, and verify the legal and procedural process relating to her detention. “Whatever the circumstances, the safety, welfare, legal rights and dignity of the Sri Lankan national concerned must be protected,” he said, adding that the government was seeking verified information through official channels rather than relying on media reports.
The intervention is the first publicly confirmed government-level action on behalf of Mehboobdeen since Israeli naval commandos boarded the more than 50-vessel flotilla off the Cyprus coast on Monday. Mehboobdeen, the Sri Lankan delegate on the international civil-society convoy, had earlier joined the mission in April from an earlier flotilla intercepted off Crete. Hemachandra said the government did not wish to make premature conclusions on the interception but would continue to monitor it closely.
The Sumud Flotilla missions have framed themselves as non-violent breaches of Israel’s long-running blockade on Gaza, sailing with medical aid and supplies from Marmaris in Turkey. Israel has historically treated such convoys as illegal blockade-runners and diverted detained vessels to its ports. The government has previously been criticised for not responding more forcefully when the April convoy was stopped and around 175 activists detained; Tuesday’s parliamentary statement marked a clearer official posture on Mehboobdeen’s individual case. The Free Palestine Movement staged a protest in front of the Foreign Affairs Ministry the same day demanding urgent measures to secure her release, with Sri Lanka’s civil-society engagement broadening from embassy-level solidarity into direct participation in international convoys and domestic complaints involving foreign nationals transiting the country.
Sources: EconomyNext, Newswire.
