July 26, Geneva: Thousands of expatriate Sri Lankans residing in Italy and other European countries organized a massive demonstration in Geneva, Switzerland yesterday against the Panel of Experts appointed by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The protest rally took place in front of the United Nations office in Geneva on Sunday (25) afternoon.

Protesters holding placards and banners and waving the Sri Lankan flag voiced their opposition to the appointment of the UN panel and the suspension of the European Union's Generalized System of Preferences Plus tariff concession to Sri Lanka from August 15th.

Most of the participants were from Italy, mainly from Milan and Rome.

Following the demonstrations the organizers handed over a letter to the UN authorities. Sri Lankans living in Italy earlier have handed over a letter to the Rome office of the European Parliament requesting to revive the GSP+ concession.