Multiple countries have issued advisories to avoid non-essential travel to Sri Lanka, amidst the current unrest on the island.
A state of disaster was declared on April 1, which has been facing months of unrest due to a political and economic crisis. Nationwide curfews have been imposed due to protest actions.
The island nation of 22m people is experiencing acute shortages of food, fuel and other essentials, a crisis inflicting misery and triggering weeks of mass demonstrations, reports The Citizen.
The crisis has been 20 years in the making according to The Guardian, which says it is the result of years of of unsustainable levels of borrowing to fund unwise projects, and levels of taxation that have been too low, and this has made Sri Lanka particularly vulnerable to the impacts of COVID.
According to ABC News, Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has suggested privatising the country’s national airline as part of reforms aimed at solving the economic crisis. He has said he has plans to propose a special relief budget that will take the place of the development-oriented budget earlier approved for this year, noting that this would channel funds previously allocated for infrastructure development into public welfare.
The most recent travel advisory for Sri Lanka comes from South Korea, reports Times of India. The embassy released a statement on May 20, advising its citizens to cancel or delay all non-essential travel to the island nation.
New Zealand revised its travel advisory for Sri Lanka on May 11. "New Zealand has revised its travel advisory for Sri Lanka. We are now advising New Zealanders against undertaking non-essential travel to Sri Lanka due to recent civil unrest and the economic crisis in the country." Australia has advised its citizens similarly.
The US has given a ‘Level 3: Reconsider Travel’ advisory for Sri Lanka, and Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has advised its citizens to defer non-essential travel to Sri Lanka.
The UK’s Foreign Office too has advised against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka, other than for transit purposes. It adds that travellers in Sri Lanka at this time should avoid all protests and follow the advice of local authorities.
