Eranga Rambukwella is an Immigration Investigations Officer at The Department of Immigration and Emigration of Sri Lanka. He joined the RSO as a secondee in June 2024, working closely with the RSO’s Border and Migration Management team.
The secondment of an Officer from Sri Lanka’s Department of Immigration and Emigration is funded by the Government of New Zealand, to further foster collaborative efforts around information sharing initiated through the Bali Process Working Group on Disruption of Criminal Networks involved in People Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons 2023-2024 Joint Period of Action—which New Zealand co-chairs alongside Viet Nam.
Eranga’s secondment to the RSO has supported the strengthening of relationships between the RSO, Sri Lanka Immigration’s Border Surveillance Unit, and airline and immigration liaison networks in the region. This has included providing practical support in the identification of fraudulent travel documents, to support some 37 interceptions in eight countries, as well as subsequent returns. Eranga further shared his insights on trends and methodologies being adopted by people smugglers.
Eranga has provided expert training to airline staff from Airports of Thailand (AOT) and worked closely with the Thailand Immigration Bureau (TIB), and border and immigration and law enforcement officials in the RSO Alumni Network.
Can you tell us about your career at the Sri Lanka Department of Immigration and Emigration and then some of your career highlights so far?
I have worked as an Immigration Investigations Officer attached to the Department of Immigration and Emigration, Sri Lanka since June 2013, verifying travel documents, conducting passenger assessments, identifying potential victims of trafficking in persons, analysing emerging irregular migration trends, supporting inter-agency and cross-border collaboration, researching modus operandi in migrant smuggling and preparing intelligence reports.
I have played a key role for Sri Lanka’s Border Surveillance Unit (BSU) since its implementation at the Bandaranaike International Airport in July 2019, supporting the development of the BSU Standard Operating Procedures, in collaboration with the Department of Immigration and Emigration, Sri Lanka’s Attorney General Department, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the Asia Foundation.
I have represented Sri Lanka in multilateral dialogues, including the Asia Network of Document Examiners Forum (ANDEX). I have also lead immigration training programs covering travel documents examination, interviewing techniques, passenger assessments, and immigration law in Sri Lanka, to support immigration officials and airline officials. These programs have also been extended to foreign embassies in Sri Lanka and across Airport Aviation Services.
What led you to consider a secondment to the RSO?
During the 7th Bali Process Working Group on Disruption of Criminal Networks involved in People Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons 2023-2024 Joint Period of Action, Sri Lanka’s Department of Immigration and Emigration, and the Government of Thailand established joint efforts to identify Sri Lankan citizens aiming to travel into Thailand with the view to transitting illegally to Europe, Canada, Australia.
Another issue of focus was the forced criminality that Sri Lankan citizens have been entrapped in, particularly in cyber-scam centre operations at the borderlines of Thailand within the territories of Myanmar, Cambodia and Lao PDR. Fostering working partnerships between Sri Lanka and Thailand Immigration officials has supported sustainable, proactive and effective solutions to identify methodologies and gather evidence to prosecute perpetrators.
Building on these efforts, the Government of New Zealand, which co-chairs the Disruption Working Group alongside Viet Nam, generously funded this secondment position to further regional collaboration and information sharing beyond the Joint Period of Action.
I hold six years of experience as an investigation officer at border crossing points in Sri Lanka, and in mitigating-cross border crimes. This has included collaborating with international partners, including regional immigration authorities, and Immigration Liaison Officers designated to countries including Canada, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
I hoped that the secondment to the RSO would provide access to an ecosystem that supported shaping of more proactive, strategic joint investigations and solutions.
What pieces of work have you been involved in at the RSO?
In my role, I have worked closely with the RSO’s Border and Migration Management team, supporting planning for the Third RSO Border Forum, which serves a platform for Bali Process members to engage with border management strategies related to addressing people smuggling and trafficking in persons.
I have provided input on the further refinement of the RSO and UNHCR Screening and Referral Toolkit. This mobile-app – currently only used in the training-environment – is designed to support border officials in identifying potential victims and irregular migrants at border crossing points.
I established regular meetings with Thailand law enforcement agencies, including the Thailand Immigration Bureau (TIB), the Royal Thailand Police Anti Trafficking in Persons Division and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), sharing information from Sri Lanka Immigration and supporting understanding of trends related to movements of Sri Lankan citizens across Southeast Asia. These meetings in turn supported my understanding of efforts made by the Government of Thailand in addressing cross-border crimes, especially in relation to trafficking into forced criminality in cyber-scam centres.
I also engaged with Airline and Immigration Liaison Officers in Bangkok, sharing intelligence on interceptions of improper travel documents and cases that indicated trends in irregular migration attempts. Monthly team meetings included brainstorming discussions to understand regional cases where fraudulent documents were intercepted at border crossing points.
I also participated in multi-stakeholder consultation and focus group discussions in the Chiang Mai and Mae Sot districts in Thailand, as part of a piece of work led by the RSO, the Australian Institute of Criminology and UN Women, to better understand the experience of women in cyber-scam centres.
I also contributed to regional training workshops led by the RSO and the Immigration Control Experts (ICE) team for officials in the Airports of Thailand Ground Aviation Services (AOTGA). Sessions, leading detailed and interactive discussions on document security features. I provided expertise to a workshop led by the RSO and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Fiji for immigration, custom, law enforcement, labour inspection and fisheries officers, on improving victim identification and strengthening referral mechanisms using screening guidelines.
How did you find adjusting to working in RSO and how does it compare to your experiences at the Sri Lanka Department of Immigration and Emigration?
I found more opportunities in adjusting to work in RSO from the working environment in the Department of Immigration and Emigration, Sri Lanka. I studied RSO’s work under distinct teams on project-based activities for the scope of countering people smuggling and trafficking in persons crimes in the Bali Process region.
Border Migration and Management team works mainly on countering people smuggling and trafficking in persons crimes at air border crossing points. Activities coincides with my working environment as a law enforcement official at the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Sri Lanka.
Weekly meetings and efficient communication within RSO staff together with my work experiences throughout my carrier assist me to adjusting to the secondment in RSO.
What pieces of advice would you give anyone considering a secondment to the RSO?
The RSO provides a perfect platform to support Bali Process Member States. Secondees can work on delivering the best for their country-specific objectives within the RSO, and gain knowledge to support their own capacity development through participation in RSO activities and access to its networks and intelligence products. I would strongly recommend the RSO as a place to work for a secondee, a key outcome being the ability to build your strategic thinking and direction, and to take back initiatives to implement in your own countries.
What is on your 2025 wish list for your career or professional development?
My secondment to the RSO has opened a multiple new corridors and relationships with Bali Process members. I plan to share insights and challenges, promising practices and initiatives that I have been exposed to, back to the Department of Immigration and Emigration, Sri Lanka.
I wish to bring back learning including the Multi-Disciplinary Team approach adopted in the borderline districts of Thailand to address issues of trafficking in persons.
With my experiences in the RSO, new knowledge gained and my enhanced network across international counterparts, I plan to continue to work on issues of people smuggling and trafficking in persons which impact Sri Lanka and the region.
