Business · Sri Lanka Bureau
Sri Lanka establishes committee to recover cultural heritage held overseas
Sri Lanka has formed a dedicated committee tasked with recovering the nation's cultural artifacts and heritage items currently held in foreign institutions. The move leverages international conventions that grant states the right to request repatriation of their cultural property.
LSN Sri Lanka ·
The committee has been established to coordinate efforts in retrieving Sri Lankan cultural heritage that has been dispersed across museums, private collections, and institutions worldwide. The initiative is grounded in the UNESCO 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, which provides legal frameworks enabling nations to seek the return of their cultural assets.
Under Articles 7 and 13 of the international convention, Sri Lanka is empowered to formally request the repatriation of cultural property that rightfully belongs to the nation but remains held abroad. The convention represents a significant legal instrument protecting countries from the illicit trafficking of artifacts and cultural items of historical and national importance.
The newly formed committee will be responsible for identifying Sri Lankan cultural artifacts held in foreign institutions, documenting their historical significance, and initiating formal requests for their return. This systematic approach is expected to strengthen the nation's capacity to recover items of cultural and archaeological value that form part of Sri Lanka's heritage.
The establishment of this committee reflects growing global momentum toward repatriating cultural property to its countries of origin, with numerous nations successfully recovering significant artifacts in recent years through diplomatic channels and legal frameworks established under UNESCO conventions.