COLOMBO, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's cabinet on Tuesday approved the appointment of a committee to advise the government on efforts to secure the return of Sri Lankan cultural artifacts held overseas, including items taken from the country during the colonial era.
The committee is also expected to facilitate further exchanges with its Dutch counterpart on the return of cultural artifacts.
Sri Lanka carried out the first phase of its cultural heritage restitution process in 2023, when six artifacts held by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, were officially returned to the country.
The government said Articles 7 and 13 of the UNESCO 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property provide states with a basis to seek the return of cultural property belonging to them that is held abroad. ■