#updated (Updated on 8th February, 2023)
During the past couple of days, it has been observed that posts are being circulated on social media platforms displaying that the New Zealand Government has updated the instructions given to the residents of the country, especially tourists, in relation to visiting Sri Lanka.
Those mentioned that the relevant travel advice against visiting Sri Lanka has been updated.
The main reason for the circulation of such posts on social media was a news article published on the website of Daily Mirror News. The news was published on 4th of February.
The news article, published on the website of Daily Mirror, was read/reviewed by more than 4,000 viewers according to the website’s data. Here.
On several occasions, Daily Mirror had published the news which was published on their website on their Facebook page. Screenshots of it are displayed below.
The New Zealand High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Mr. Michael Appleton, in a twitter message stated that the above Daily Mirror news report is false.
Click here for the twitter message.
The High Commissioner has stated in his tweet that New Zealand has not issued a travel advisory to its residents against visiting Sri Lanka.
“We have two types of travel advisories that advise residents in New Zealand against traveling to a specific country or region… “Do not travel” and “Avoid non-essential travel”. There are currently more than 50 countries that have issued this type of New Zealand travel advisory. Sri Lanka does not belong to any of them”. He further stated that “There are more than 50 countries. Sri Lanka is not one of them”.
After the High Commissioner’s tweet, the website of Daily Mirror news published another news article including the relevant explanation. Here
Hashtag Generation made an inquiry in this regard from the New Zealand High Commission in this regard for further clarification.
One of its officials stated that, “We initially saw an article about this in the Daily Mirror on the 4th of February, which we rejected. The Daily Mirror has already explained it in today’s (February 6) paper. We reiterate that New Zealand has not issued a travel advisory advising New Zealand residents against visiting Sri Lanka. You can see the full statement about this on our Facebook page”.
A screenshot of it is attached below.
Moreover, the same news was also published in Sinhala and it was seen that the Australian flag was used instead of the New Zealand flag.
It can thus be concluded that New Zealand has not updated its travel advisories for its residents blocking visitation to Sri Lanka.
For more Fact Checks by Hashtag Generation, here.
