SerpApi.Org
After Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake pushed back a visit to France slated for July 2026, rumours circulated online that the French government had rejected his request for a visa. The French Embassy in Colombo and the Sri Lankan government have both dismissed the assertion, and said they are working on a new date for the visit. Heads of state are exempted from visa requirements for official trips, a former diplomat told AFP.
"The French government rejects Anura's visa application," reads Sinhala-language text overlaid on an image shared in a Facebook post on July 10.
It shows Dissanayake alongside the French flag, with a caption that reads: "Don't come to France. Will not give a visa. Your government is an oppressive government. The French government rejects Anura's visa request."
Dissanayake delayed his visit to France originally slated for July -- a month after French President Emmanuel Macron invited him on the sidelines of an AI summit in India ( archived link ).
He was expected to secure France's support to extend Sri Lanka's status in the European Union's tariff exemption regime, while both countries had planned to tackle areas of cooperation in the economic, finance and defence sectors (archived here and here ).
Dissanayake is also keen to bring French investors to Sri Lanka, France's ambassador to the country, Remi Lambert, said during a meeting with a cabinet minister on June 25 (archived here , here and here ).
Similar claims have spread elsewhere on Facebook, but both Sri Lankan and French authorities denied claims that he delayed his trip because he was not granted a visa.
'Incorrect' information
"There is absolutely no truth in the rumours spreading on social media and other platforms that claim President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's visa application was rejected by the French authorities," Prasanna Perera, Director General of the President's Media Division , said in an email to AFP on July 16 ( archived link ).
"An official visit to France will be scheduled at an appropriate time in the future, taking into consideration the president's official commitments, mutual convenience and established diplomatic arrangements."
"The information stating that a visa refusal was the reason for postponing President Dissanayake's visit to France is incorrect," the French Embassy in Colombo told AFP in another email on July 16.
"We are working with the Sri Lankan authorities to set the date of this visit," it goes on to say.
According to local media, the visit was postponed due to developments within Sri Lanka, including deadly clashes between rival gangs at a Colombo prison that killed at least 21 inmates and 10 guards in July (archived here and here ).
Sri Lanka says it had launched an investigation into the riot, while the UN called for the country's Human Rights Commission tasked with the probe to have "unfettered access" to the South Asian nation's prisons.
A former diplomatic official also said that heads of state are accorded diplomatic exemption when they travel to another country on official invitation.
"Heads of state don't travel unless with the concurrence of the host nation. They are gratis visitors as they travel on invitation," Mahendra Ratnaweera , a former staffer at the British High Commission in Sri Lanka, told AFP on July 22 ( archived link ).
"But for private visits they would still need visas," he said.
AFP has previously debunked other false claims targeting Dissanayake .
