The Cabinet has approved two bilateral agreements aimed at cross-border crime, one with South Korea covering criminal investigations and one with China covering immigration control.

Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Nalinda Jayatissa announced both at the weekly post-Cabinet briefing.

South Korea: evidence, documents and information

Ministers cleared a proposal to sign a Mutual Legal Assistance agreement in criminal matters with South Korea.

“The agreement allows mutual cooperation between the states to gather evidence, serve judicial documents, and exchange information to investigate or prosecute criminal offenses across borders,” Jayatissa told reporters, EconomyNext reported.

The idea is not new. It was first proposed in 2023, but the agreement was never signed. EconomyNext did not report why it stalled, or when the signing will now take place.

China: border management and intelligence sharing

The second agreement is between Sri Lanka’s Department of Immigration and Emigration and China’s National Immigration Administration, and is aimed at enhancing institutional coordination, intelligence sharing and border management.

Jayatissa described its purpose as “facilitating visa and immigration matters for citizens engaged in business, investment, and tourism, while taking strict measures against organized crime and trafficking of persons,” EconomyNext reported.

It also provides for official visits between the heads of the two institutions and for training workshops for immigration officers.

The proposal was cleared by the Attorney General and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism before reaching Cabinet.

The minister was asked whether arrests prompted it

Pressed on whether the China agreement was a response to arrests connected to online scam operations, Jayatissa rejected the link.

“There is no link between those arrests and the MoUs we enter into. This agreement comes as a result of extensive discussions held over a considerable period,” he said.

He described the partnership as a broader institutional initiative covering capacity building, information exchange and security cooperation, rather than a reaction to specific cases.

What has not been reported

Neither report gave a signing date for either agreement, said whether either requires parliamentary approval, or set out what changes in practice for Sri Lankan authorities handling a request from Seoul or Beijing. Neither said whether the agreements carry any obligation in the other direction — for example on extradition, which mutual legal assistance treaties typically do not cover.

EconomyNext was the only verified newsroom carrying the South Korea decision at the time of writing.

Update: Ada Derana adds the government’s own account of the China MoU

Ada Derana subsequently reported the China agreement from a statement issued by the Department of Government Information, adding detail the Cabinet briefing summary did not carry.

Its account widens the list of citizens the MoU is meant to help: not only those engaged in business, investment and tourism, but also technical and scientific activities. It also describes a framework for facilitating official engagements between the two sides, including negotiations and tourism-related activities involving heads of institutions and official representatives.

On the clearances, the two accounts differ slightly in wording. EconomyNext reported the proposal was cleared by the Attorney General and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism. Ada Derana lists three clearances — the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Employment and Tourism, and the Attorney General — treating the foreign affairs and foreign employment portfolios as separate ministries. Neither outlet published the draft MoU.

Ada Derana carried no equivalent statement on the South Korea agreement.

Update: NewsFirst dates the original approval to 11 November 2023

NewsFirst reported the South Korea decision on 2 September, supplying a detail EconomyNext’s account did not carry and which this article had noted as unreported: the date of the earlier approval.

Cabinet had already cleared the signing of the agreement at a meeting held on 11 November 2023, NewsFirst reported. Despite that approval, the two countries never formally signed it — which is why the proposal has returned to Cabinet nearly three years later.

NewsFirst also identifies who brought it back. The proposal approved this week was submitted by the Minister of Justice and National Integration. EconomyNext’s account, drawn from the Cabinet spokesperson’s briefing, did not name the sponsoring ministry.

On substance, NewsFirst’s description matches EconomyNext’s: a framework for the two states to assist each other in criminal investigations and legal proceedings, covering the exchange of judicial documents, the collection and sharing of evidence, and other forms of mutual legal assistance.

It still does not report why the agreement stalled after 2023, or when the signing will now take place.

Update: three more newsrooms pick up the China MoU, and one dates the Cabinet meeting

Daily FT, Daily Mirror and Hiru News each carried the immigration agreement on 2 September. Between them they add one fact this article had left open and confirm the rest.

Daily FT dates the decision: the Cabinet approved the signing on Monday, 31 August, with Jayatissa announcing it at the weekly post-Cabinet briefing the following day. The accounts above were drawn from the briefing and did not say when ministers actually took the decision.

FT’s description of the scope matches EconomyNext’s, and it carries Jayatissa’s formulation in the first person: “The agreement will facilitate visa and immigration-related matters for Chinese and Sri Lankan citizens travelling for business, investment and tourism, while strengthening measures to counter organized crime and human trafficking.” It also repeats his rejection of any link to the arrests of Chinese nationals.

Daily Mirror frames the same MoU commercially, reporting that it could support smoother cross-border movement of investors, entrepreneurs and professionals and help build economic and commercial links between the two countries. It confirms the framework covers the exchange of official information and intelligence, regular discussions and visits between senior immigration officials, measures against organised crime and human trafficking, and workshops for immigration officers. It names the sponsoring minister as the Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs — a detail EconomyNext’s account, taken from the spokesperson, did not carry.

Hiru News adds nothing new but confirms the same clearances and the same sponsoring ministry.

Six verified newsrooms have now reported the China agreement. None has published a signing date, and none has covered the South Korea decision beyond EconomyNext and NewsFirst.

Context

Both pacts extend an existing pattern of institutional agreements with the two governments. Sri Lanka and South Korea already have substantial financial ties, including the restructuring of US$267 million in EDCF debt, and Korea remains a major destination for Sri Lankan migrant workers — a group for whom cross-border evidence-gathering has practical consequences.

The China agreement arrives as Beijing’s diplomatic engagement in Colombo has been visible: the newly appointed ambassador Wei Huaxiang met JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva on Monday. China also remains Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral creditor, at US$5.007 billion.

Sources