Are tour operators turning a blind eye to Sri Lanka war crimes?
Tourism and human rights debate refuses to lie down no response from operators
A hot debate has been running on the Facebook Responsible Tourism Networking group regarding the stories in Vision on Sustainable Tourism (Are tour operators turning a blind eye to Sri Lanka war crimes?) and in the UK Daily Telegraph about the allegations of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka and major tour operators who are alleged to be complicit or at least aware of the situation.
The Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice claims certain hotels, airlines and attractions around the country – including a number of wildlife sanctuaries – have political or financial links to the alleged perpetrators of human rights abuses.
As yet there has been little or no response from the tour operators in question but a fierce debate has been raging on the social media.
Today Nikki White, head of destinations and sustainability at ABTA commented: "ABTA was recently made aware of concerns around the potential contribution the UK outbound tourism industry to Sri Lanka is making to alleged human rights abuses."
"We take such allegations extremely seriously and as such, have been taking actions to further understand the nature of these concerns. More broadly, 2011 saw the publication of the "UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights" and ABTA and its members have been working to understand and implement their responsibilities under these principles."
"This is in line with our commitment to the sustainable development and operation of tourism and our objective of developing best practice in global tourism supply chains."
What do you think?
Valere Tjolle
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