• COPF questions oversight

The Colombo Port City Economic Commission (CPCEC) has facilitated the issuance of 14,300 foreign worker visas while operating with only 16 staff and conducts no active follow-up once foreign workers enter the country on 30-day landing endorsements, the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) has been told.The disclosure came during an 8 October COPF inquiry, chaired by Dr. Harsha de Silva, into visa violations following reports of five Chinese nationals deported in August, prompting the commission to suspend visa recommendations for two Port City Authorised Persons (APs).Officials said the five Chinese nationals were deported from the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) after failing to explain their arrival or identify their employers. Visa recommendation suspensions on the two companies were lifted within a month following joint inspections.

Dr. de Silva highlighted regulatory gaps in addressing suspected cybercrime, noting that deportations were based on visa violations rather than cybercrime charges. He also questioned whether Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and blockchain firms operating outside Port City Colombo could be used by cyber-scam operations displaced from Southeast Asia.Citing first-quarter 2026 immigration statistics, Dr. de Silva noted that arrivals from Cambodia had risen by 70%, from Vietnam by 258%, and from Myanmar, flagged as a major cyber-scam and offshore gaming hub, by 458%. He added that both the Chinese and Vietnamese Embassies had urged Sri Lankan authorities to act decisively to protect the country’s reputation and banking sector.

CPCEC Director of Finance Ruwan Karunaratne said that foreign workers received 30-day landing endorsements, while APs must submit monthly employee and residential details and notify local Police.Opposition MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam questioned accountability for workers engaging in illegal activities, with officials confirming that visa violations fell under the Department of Immigration and Emigration.Officials then disclosed that 14,300 visas had been issued, which Rasamanickam noted averaged more than 200 foreign personnel per Business of Strategic Importance (BSI). When asked how many field officers conducted compliance checks, officials stated that the entire organization had only 16 staff.“So out of that 16, you’re telling us they are going to periodically conduct random visits on 14,000 people?” Rasamanickam questioned, adding that unannounced inspections of off-site offices in Colombo would present a different picture.

The committee also examined the vetting of the 67 to 68 secondary BSIs approved by the CPCEC. Parliamentary researchers identified entities registered in tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands with minimal capital commitments and unclear beneficial ownership. These included Ace Global Management Services, granted BSI status with a commitment of $ 10,000, and Fortitude Innovations, approved with $ 2,500. Bridgeton Global Ltd., Taken Technologies, and Xeptagon Information Technology had no identifiable parent company.COPF members questioned how such entities could obtain BSI status, receive tax concessions, and secure quotas to sponsor hundreds of foreign workers.The committee directed the CPCEC to submit, within two weeks, an inventory of all 67 BSIs identifying every company that has sponsored foreign labour, the headcount, nationalities, length of stay, and verified job roles of all 14,300 foreign workers and beneficial ownership records for all registered offshore entities.