Photos: Crisis pushes more Sri Lankans into poverty

Sri Lanka is in the throes of its starkest economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

Dilhani Wathsala, 14, eating her lunch cooked by her mother, Nilanthi Gunasekera, 49, in her home at Wanathamulla, Colombo. 

Millions of Sri Lankans are battling a calamitous decline in living standards, as they find themselves forced to skip meals, ration medicines and turn to firewood in place of cooking gas.

Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, rising oil prices and economic mismanagement under previous governments, the island nation is in the throes of its starkest crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

Rampant inflation, snaking fuel queues and shortages of essentials such as food and medicine have driven many Sri Lankans into poverty, while months of street protests deposed the previous president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in July.

More than a quarter of the population of 22 million is now struggling to secure adequate, nutritious food, the United Nations says.

As desperation grows, the government of President Ranil Wickremesinghe is seeking a multibillion-dollar bailout in talks with the International Monetary Fund and is tapping key allies, from India and Japan to the United States.

But major financial assistance is still months away, making tough austerity measures likely, so few Sri Lankans will see conditions improve soon.

As depleted reserves have dried up supplies of petrol, diesel and gas, lengthy fuel queues, sometimes persisting for days, have become a daily feature this year.

The shortages have brought a boom in demand for firewood.

Krishan Darshana told the Reuters news agency that he had joined his father in breaking up logs to sell as kindling after getting laid off from a job in construction during the crisis.

“It’s very hard work,” said the 25-year-old, who now makes do with a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits as the day’s only meal. “But what else can I do when there are no jobs for us?”

Nilanthi Gunasekera holds a handful of dried fish, the only protein her family will have until next week. 

Manel Peiris, 68, in her kitchen, in Colombo. 

'I am a heart patient and have to take medicine every day,' Peiris said. 'Hospitals used to issue medicine for three months. But with the onset of the economic crisis, hospitals don't have medicine and so we are asked to buy from pharmacies. But one month's cost is around Rs 3,400 [$9.3] which I can't afford, so I buy only for one week at a time. Sometimes my husband has to borrow or get an advance from his workplace.' 

Gamage Rupawathi, 60, right, her husband WA Susantha, 45, centre, and their son, Krishan Darshana, 25, left, at their home in Colombo. 'When I had a fruit business I was earning a significant income,' Rupawathi said. 'But with the drawn-out lockdowns during the pandemic and now this economic crisis I don't have money to restart my fruit stall.' 

WA Susantha holds a cup of plain tea and two pieces of biscuit, the only food he has for the day. 

'We used to have all three meals, but now we skip breakfast. We are now waiting until my brother brings home some rice,' said S Gayathri, 29, standing with her mother M Saraswathi, 59, in front of their house in Colombo. 'After this we won't have any vegetables left.' 

Ramani Priyani Nisshanka, 62, in a dark room in her home after she switched off the lights to save on the electricity bill. 

Ramani Priyani Nisshanka holds an electricity bill. 'My husband fell ill around a year ago,' she said. 'Now it's very difficult not only to spend on food but even to pay bills.' 

Vidyathipathige Nihal, 62, at his home in Colombo. 'Just a couple of months back some robbers broke into our house and stole the small gas cylinder and the cooker we had ... So now we are forced to cook with firewood,' he said. 

Chandra Thushari Peiris, 42, at her food kiosk in Colombo. 'We had a good business at our kiosk,' she said. 'Since we used to eat the leftovers from our kiosk we didn't have any problem with food ... But during the pandemic, and more so the present economic crisis, we didn't get any customers.' 

Oshada Fernando, 11, holds a kite that his uncle made for him. 'With the economic crisis we haven't bought any toys for our son,' said his mother, 42-year-old Anusha Priyadarshini. 

 

Sri Lanka must ‘reverse the drift towards militarisation’: UN

The latest United Nations report calls on Sri Lanka to end its human rights violations as the country faces its worst economic crisis yet.

Army soldiers remove tents from the site of a protest camp outside the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Friday, July 22, 2022

Sri Lanka must immediately reverse its “drift towards militarisation”, the United Nations has said in a human rights report, calling on the new government to engage in dialogue “to advance human rights and reconciliation”.

The South Asian island nation has suffered acute food and fuel shortages, lengthy blackouts and spiralling inflation this year after running out of foreign currency to import essentials amid its worst economic crisis to date.

The crisis sparked months of protests against the government over economic mismanagement, culminating in a huge crowd storming the residence of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who then fled for the Maldives, Singapore and Thailand before returning to Sri Lanka last weekend.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has been criticised for launching a crackdown on peaceful protesters since he succeeded Rajapaksa in July.

“The new government should immediately reverse the drift towards militarisation, end the reliance on draconian security laws and crackdowns on peaceful protest,” the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in its latest report on Tuesday, referring to the new government which took over after Gotabaya Rajapaksa was forced to step down as president in July in the wake of mass protests.

“Fundamental changes will be required to address the current challenges and to avoid repetition of the human rights violations of the past,” said the OHCHR report.

It added that the government should also “show renewed commitment to security sector reform and ending impunity”.

Sri Lanka’s government defaulted on its $51bn foreign debt in April and is in ongoing negotiations for an International Monetary Fund bailout.

The country’s central bank is forecasting a record eight-percent gross domestic product (GDP) contraction for the year.

Rajapaksa’s government was accused of introducing unsustainable tax cuts that drove up government debt and exacerbated economic problems just as the country was struggling with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 73-year-old issued his resignation from abroad after fleeing the country in July, but he flew back to Colombo on Saturday and was garlanded with flowers by political allies on his return.

He is now living in a new official residence with a security detail, both provided by Wickremesinghe’s government, to the dismay of protest leaders who campaigned for him to face legal action.

Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, whose term ended last month, said in the report that those responsible for bankrupting the island should be prosecuted.

“The High Commissioner hopes that the new administration will respond to the popular demand for accountability for economic crimes, including corruption, and abuse of power with a renewed commitment to end impunity,” she said.

It was the first time the UN rights office raised the economic crisis, in a report repeating its calls for those who perpetrated atrocities during the island’s long civil war to be brought to justice.

“The High Commissioner encourages the international community to support Sri Lanka in its recovery, but also in addressing the underlying causes of the crisis, including impunity for human rights violations and economic crimes,” the 16-page report said.

The report also repeated long-standing calls by the rights office for the prosecution of those responsible for atrocities during the island’s decades-long civil war, which ended in May 2009.

Sri Lanka has been resisting international calls to investigate allegations that its troops killed at least 40,000 Tamil civilians in 2009.