Team
Our Team
Irosha Gunasekera
Attorney- at- Law & Notary Public
Irosha was called to the Bar in year 2003 and has far-reaching work experience exceeding 20 years which includes 7 years at D.L.& f de Saram, a leading law firm Sri Lanka. She possesses academic & professional qualifications which include LLB (Hons), University of Colombo, Attorney at Law Supreme Court of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Notary Public of Colombo. Her areas of practice include Conveyancing, Family Law and Testamentary Matters. Currently she is working as the Chief Executive Officer at Expat Solutions.
Dr. Y.Kathirgamathamby
Yasodara Kathirgamathamby obtained an LL. B from the University of Colombo in (2000), an LL.M (2009)and a PhD from National Law School of India University (2020). Her PhD thesis titled “Legal responses to Human Smuggling was a case study with particular reference to Sri Lanka. She served as instructing attorney and worked as a visiting lecturer at the faculty of Law University of Colombo before joining the OUSL as a lecturer.She served as the Head of the legal studies Department of Legal Studies of the OUSL from 2010 to 2013 and 2015 to 2016 whereshe is currently Senior lecturer.
Her areas of research are Human Rights law, International Criminal Law, Internal Humanitarian law, Research methodology and Administrative law,Human Smuggling, Public Administration, and Rights of People of Indian origin, Rights of Irregular migrants, Women Rights and Rights of refugees.Her major research area is Human Smuggling and Human trafficking. She has published/presented research papers at national international journals/ conferences. She served as coordinator and resource person in the certificate course on Irregular Migration, Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking offered by the Department of Legal Studies of the OUSL to the department of Immigration and Emigration Sri Lanka.
She also serves various governmental and non -governmental organisations in various capacities. (Technical consultant, Translator (Legal), conference panellist).Particularly,she was invited by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to deliver lectures to the chief immigration officers and the border control officials in the area of transnational crime with particular reference to Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking.
Wasantha Navaratne Bandara
President’s Counsel and Former Senior Additional Solicitor General of the Attorney General’s Department of Sri Lanka. Holds a LL.B degree from University of Colombo, a master’s degree (LL.M) from University of London, King’s College, in Commercial and Corporate Law, a master’s degree (LL.M) in Public International Law from University of Colombo, and a Diploma in Forensic Medicine and Science from University of Colombo. A lecturer and an examiner of law in the foremost institutions of study of law in Sri Lanka in relation to the courses of studies of LL.B, LL.M and Attorney at law. Fulbright Hubert Humphrey fellow (underwent the fellowship being attached to the University of Minnesota)
Whilst serving as an Additional Solicitor General, headed the Immigration and Emigration unit of the Attorney General’s Department involved in legal matters and the training of Government officers involved in investigations and prosecutions. Was a member of the National Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force. Attended International Conferences in relation to Human Trafficking and Smuggling held in Australia, Vienna, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Attended many International Conferences of Law held in many countries world over.
Mr. Wimal Fernando
Mr. Wimal Fernando is a former Assistant Controller, Chief Immigration Officer, and Immigration Officer at the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and served at Colombo headquarters and ports of entries and exits in Sri Lanka, including Bandaranaike International Airport and Colombo Harbor. During his 34 years of service at the Department of Immigration and Emigration, Mr. Wimal engaged in the enforcement of the Immigrants and Emigrants Act and the Citizenship Act of Sri Lanka in administering immigration and citizenship laws in every aspect of immigration and citizenship. He specializes in border control, Sri Lankan visas, and passport-related matters. Having served in various cities in the world, including Washington, DC, and Moscow, Mr. Fernando is now stationed in New York City, coordinating Expat Solutions’ activities across the United States of America.
Mr. Prabath Aluthge
Mr. Prabath Aluthge has over 30 years of experience providing leadership in immigration control administration, focusing on border control, irregular migration, and transnational organized crimes, in particular human trafficking and human smuggling, at the Department of Immigration and Emigration, Sri Lanka, in the capacities of Immigration officer, Chief immigration Officer and Assistant Controller until 2023. He was a member of the National Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force, Sri Lanka from 2010 to 2023. He amassed immense experience in the said areas of work, possessing a diverse range of talents and academic achievements obtained both domestically and overseas. By way of conducting many training programs and representing himself as a resource person, he shared his academic and professional knowledge and expertise with departmental officials, academic institutions, and other officials of the government, such as police officers, administrative officers, military personnel, and activists of civil society. Mr. Aluthge also maintained outstanding relationships with Non-Governmental Agencies (INGOs), such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and United Nations Office on Drugs (UNODC) and Crimes, to mention a few.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura and a Master of Arts in International Relations from the University of Colombo. He was fortunate to secure a yearlong distinguished Hubert H. Humphrey Fulbright Fellowship, sponsored by the US Department of State, specifically in the fields relating to trafficking in persons at the University of Minnesota, USA. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in International Development from Centennial College, Toronto, Canada, an Immigration Consultancy Diploma from Herzing College Canada, and is also an INTERPOL certified trainer.
Dr.Somapriya S. Dahanayake
Dr. Somapriya S.Dahanayake live at Nugegoda Sri lanka with his family. He is a senior lecturer, educator and author with exceptional abilities. He obtained his first degree in B.A in Philosophy honours with second upper division pass in 1996 at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Subsequently, he completed a Postgraduate Diploma in International Affairs at the Bandaranayake Center for International Studies, Colombo in 1997. In 2001, he started a M. A. degree in the same field of studies (i.e. International Relations) at the Department of History and International Relations at Colombo University and completed degree in Master of Arts in International Relations in 2006. He joined the Permanent staff of the Department of Humanities Education, Faculty of Education, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, as a Lecturer in Philosophy of Education in 2003. He completed Certificate in Teaching Higher Education (CTHE) in 2005. He successfully completed the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in 2006, and Master of Education at the University of Colombo in 2010.
While engaged in teaching, research and administration activities he obtained “World Class Research Grant” in the University of Colombo. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy Degree in 2020.His doctoral study topic was “Towards a Soft Skills Oriented Workforce: Developing Soft Skills in Bachelor of Education Undergraduates”.
The focus of his research and scholarship is mainly in the fields of Education, teaching methodologies, teaching experiences and use of special methods in teaching learning at school system. He has served as a team member of the National Education Research and Evaluation Centre (NEREC) for many National levels Assessment studies since 2005.
He has been able to make a significant contribution to the development of the University in different capacities. As Head of the Department, Coordinator of Bachelor of Education Programme, Student Counsellor, in University of Colombo. Being an effective academic he disseminated knowledge through nationally as well as internationally. He published several research papers at research symposium and books related to Education and Soft Skills.
Roma Ranasinghe, LLM, MA
Roma Ranasinghe is an Attorney at Law, with over 20 years experience in practice and human rights oriented multi-disciplinary projects. Throughout the years of her professional work at UN Migration Agency (IOM), she has gained valuable expertise in Counter Human Trafficking. She was involved in providing technical assistance in establishing the NAHTTF (National Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force) at the Ministry of Justice and assisting in developing the SOP in identification, protection and referral of victims of trafficking in Sri Lanka.
As the Senior Project Coordinator Counter Trafficking Legal at IOM, she facilitated, conducted and developed training material and training programmes for the Law enforcement agencies, NGOs and Judicial medical officers of Sri Lanka. Roma was also actively involved in providing livelihood support and legal assistance to VOTs. She has worked for Transparency International Sri Lanka on an Anti Corruption Project for the public sector of Sri Lanka and as a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Specialist on CORE JUSTICE USAID Rule of Law Project. She also worked at UNHCR on interviewing and assessing asylum cases and conducting Best Interest Determination (BID) interviews and drafting BID assessments on unaccompanied minors seeking asylum.
Currently she is working as a Freelance Consultant for the Ministry of Justice, IOM, ILO and NGOs & CBOs on counter trafficking documenting, labour migration documenting and training. She has also presented papers at International Conferences on Human Trafficking and Gender.