Anna Neistat, the Senior Emergencies Researcher at Human Rights Watch, had allegedly infiltrated the camps of internally displaced people (IDP) in Vavuniya in February, and interviewed the refugees who had fled the fighting in the north, without obtaining the necessary clearance to carry out such research in the country.

"She has violated Sri Lanka's immigration and emigration laws, so we have decided not allow her to enter Sri Lanka," Immigration and Emigration controller P.B. Abeykoon told Daily Mirror yesterday.