Sri Lanka Crisis Updates: UK, Singapore tell people to avoid travelling to Sri Lanka
14 July, 2022 | Riya Girdhar
Sri Lanka is in the grip of a severe economic crisis, which has resulted in a scarcity of basic necessities such as medicines, cooking gas, fuel, and food.
The United Kingdom, Singapore, and Bahrain have advised their citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Sri Lanka, where an economic collapse has resulted in massive protests. The island nation is in the grip of a severe economic crisis, which has resulted in a shortage of basic necessities such as medicines, cooking gas, fuel, and food.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected to fly to Singapore today after fleeing to the Maldives on Wednesday.
Protesters in Sri Lanka defied tear gas, water cannons, and a state of emergency on Wednesday to storm the Prime Minister’s office, demanding both men step down in the face of an economic crisis. Meanwhile, the curfew that had been imposed to restore order was lifted this morning.
Sri Lankans awaited President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation today, a day after he fled to the Maldives to avoid a popular uprising against an economic crisis blamed on his government’s mismanagement.
Rajapaksa was expected to travel to Singapore next, though his final destination was unknown. His decision to appoint his ally Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting president sparked more protests on Wednesday, with demonstrators storming the premier’s office demanding that he resign as well.