Category: News

Foreign Ministry Secretary Admiral and Prof. Jayanath Colombage said yesterday (15) that Sri Lanka’s next big challenge in the international arena is the 51st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) as there is a possibility that the Core Group of Countries on Sri Lanka will bring forth another resolution against Sri Lanka.

“Resolution 46/1, which was passed in March 2021, is only until the 51st session which is due to be held in September 2022. The question then remains as to what will be next. Will the Core Group on Sri Lanka bring another proposal against us or will time be given to us?” questioned Prof. Colombage, at the President’s Media Division media briefing held yesterday.

He said that UN High Commissioner for HR (UNHCHR) Michelle Bachelet will also give a “full report” on the country and the progress that the UNHRC has made with regard to Resolution 46/1 during the 51st session.

In March 2021, the UNHRC recognised that it is vital to preserve and analyse evidence of human rights violations in Sri Lanka in order to promote accountability. This was done through Resolution 46/1 which garnered 22 votes in favour of it and 11 votes against it. The Core Group on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC, which consists of Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, Malawi, Montenegro and the UK, tabled the said Resolution.

Speaking on behalf of the Core Group at the 49th regular session of the UNHRC, which concluded at the beginning of this month, UK’s Global Ambassador for Human Rights Rita French noted that Resolution 46/1 is “limited”. “In particular, slow progress by the Office on Missing Persons in fully investigating cases since the release of the preliminary list of missing persons is troubling,” she added.

Prof. Colombage said yesterday that Sri Lanka has already started preparing for the 51st session and noted the importance of working with experts, government officials, and the civil society.

In her written update this month, Bachelet has called upon the UNHRC and its member states to co-operate with the Office of the UNHCHR in its discharge of accountability-related work under Resolution 46/1 and to provide it with the adequate human and financial resources in order to enable it to effectively deliver the full mandate given under the Resolution.

Bachelet is due to give a comprehensive report with options about furthering accountability in September 2022.

Long queues can be seen in front of gas outlets and filling stations in Sri Lanka as the country faces hours of daily power cuts.

The United Kingdom has warned British citizens about the dire economic situation in Sri Lanka leading to a shortage of basic necessities like fuel, medicines and food.

Riddley Nugasinghe, a university student and activist, said there are shortages of gas, milk powder, fuel and cement.

“People are in long queues for hours to carry gas cylinders and some have had to return home with empty cylinders,” said Nugasinghe, who was in a queue for two days to buy gas in Colombo.

“The massive increase in fuel prices has caused a huge shock that ordinary people cannot bear. One of the main reasons is that foreign exchange has not been properly managed.”

Sri Lanka has been hit by a dollar issue and is struggling to pay for imports including gas, medicines, fuel and food.

“We worked hard to form this government. But the shortcomings are increasing day by day and the people have been subjected to a catastrophic fate like never before”

The Sri Lankan rupee has fallen 30 percent after the government allowed the currency to free-float last week.

The government has asked for advice from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) amid the worsening economic crisis.

Ven. Muruttetuwe Ananda Thera, chancellor of Colombo University, said Buddhist monks are ready to take the government on the right path or to send it home.

“We worked hard to form this government. But the shortcomings are increasing day by day and the people have been subjected to a catastrophic fate like never before,” he said.

Bishops and priests joined fishermen in Negombo on March 3 to demand protection of their livelihoods as they face a fuel shortage and higher prices.

A Catholic priest said the power cuts and fuel shortage have affected prayer services and other activities during Lent.

“There is a shortage of buses for children to go to schools and with the increase in bus fares many people are finding it difficult to go to work,” said the priest from Negombo who wanted to remain anonymous.

“This is not a situation that has arisen but a situation that has been created. At present, the government earns more than 750 million rupees a day from taxes on fuel”

The priest said children are studying using kerosene oil lamps, fishermen do not go to sea and factories are limiting production.

Lawmaker Udaya Gammanpila, who was sacked last week, said people were suffering in queues not for a necessary reason but because of the tactics of deliberately crashing the economy.

“This is not a situation that has arisen but a situation that has been created. At present, the government earns more than 750 million rupees a day from taxes on fuel,” said Gammanpila.

The government said it has written to the IMF seeking technical support to manage the economic crisis.

The government’s main opposition is to hold a massive demonstration in Colombo on March 15 evening against the multiple crises in the country.

High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India Milinda Moragoda met with the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs of India Hardeep Singh Puri, last week at the Ministry of Urban Affairs in New Delhi, Foreign Ministry said.

High Commissioner Moragoda thanked Minister Puri for the assistance that India has provided to Sri Lanka as envisaged under the four-pillars of cooperation, agreed during the visit of Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa to India in December last year, in particular the USD 500 million line of credit to purchase petroleum products. Additional assistance too has been provided by India to enhance Sri Lanka’s petroleum stocks.

High Commissioner Milinda Moragoda also briefed Minister Puri on the challenges that Sri Lanka is currently facing as regards to the supply and distribution of petroleum products and their impact on the country’s energy sector.

The High Commissioner and the Minister discussed modalities through which India and Sri Lanka could further expand cooperation in the petroleum sector to help overcome the present crisis.

The discussion also focused on a range of issues pertaining to the energy sector, including ways and means through which Sri Lanka could establish long-term strategic ties in the petroleum, oil, gas and related logistics sectors.

Minister Hardeep Singh Puri was a distinguished career diplomat prior to joining politics. He had served at the High Commission of India in Colombo during the period 1984-1988.

Attempts made by the Sri Lanka Petroleum Private Tanker Owners’ Association (SLPPTOA) to reach the fuel transport formula revision has failed to fetch fruitful results, the SLPPTOA has opted to refrain from distributing fuel from midnight today.

The Association’s Secretary Shantha Silva told the Daily Mirror that they had requested the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) Managing Director that they needed to revise the fuel transport formula within two days considering the recent fuel price hike or else they would refrain from continuing their services.

The letter was sent to CPC’s Managing Director on March 14.

The association requested that the transport formula be revised to account for the 60% increase in transportation costs by the CYPETCO fuel price increase.

Accordingly, around 800 bowsers engaged in fuel distribution will be suspended from tonight. According to him, the CYPETCO only has 70 to 80 bowsers in operation.

The sudden increase in fuel by CYPETCO, the prices of lubricants, tyres, tubes, batteries, vehicle service charges, vehicle spare parts, and employee salaries have all shot up. Silva said 90% of the members have decided to disengage from the fuel distribution network.

He lamented that the bowsers were unable to get diesel for fuel distribution.

Rajagiriya, a swanky suburb of Colombo is generally not associated with street protests amongst its fair share of ‘well-to-do’ residents. But the town known more for its high-risers that overlook lakes and marsh and for being a few minutes away from Sri Lanka’s parliament, has seen sustained street protests over the past few days.

The activists in Rajagiriya, like several others in Colombo’s suburbs, are protesting against what they call is a government that has failed the people. Many carried placards and banners calling for resignations and demanding change.

Sri Lanka is currently in the midst of its worst-ever financial crisis, with the Cost-of-Living sky-rocketing and the prices of essential items rising exponentially. A deteriorating currency, acute shortages in fuel, pharmaceuticals, cooking gas, and hours of power cuts have exacerbated an already worsening situation bringing the generally protest-shy urban-dwellers out to the streets.

“Three more years is a long time to wait for another election. I don’t think this country can last another three weeks (at this rate)”, noted an irate protestor in Rajagiriya.

Some held placards, others, candles in a peaceful show of dissent.

“It is so sad. One of the most powerful Presidents in the world, a government with 2/3rds in the parliament (bolstered by) the 20th amendment, and they have failed the nation”, is how a senior citizen taking part in the protest summarized his views.

Similar protests are seen in other parts of Colombo, including Kohuwala and Mount-Lavinia.

Rural Sri Lanka has been on the streets for months for a plethora of reasons. Farmers took to the streets after the government arbitrarily banned the import and distribution of chemical fertilizer on the eve of the planting season. Farmers across the nation demanded fertilizer and protests raged everywhere until finally the gazette issued by the government was reversed. The repercussions of the fertilizer ban are being felt with massive crop loss being reported in many areas.