The immigration and emigration process for passengers at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake is being carried out manually at the moment.
According to the Airport and Aviation Services Sri Lanka (AASL), a malfunction is reported in the computer system at the immigration & emigration section at the airport.
The immigration and emigration process will continue manually until the computer system breakdown is rectified, the AASL informed.
Meanwhile, issuance of passports at the Department of Immigration & Emigration in Battaramulla and all regional offices also came to a temporary halt due to a breakdown in the computer system yesterday.
Due to the technical failure, accepting applications for passports was also suspended until the system was restored.
The Immigration & Emigration Department later announced that the computer system failure was rectified and that issuance of passports would resume as per usual from today (Nov. 09).
A heated situation was also reported in front of the Immigration & Emigration Department yesterday as many people who had arrived to obtain their passports began to protest. However, the officials of the department and police officers, who arrived at the scene, explained the situation and managed to send them away.
