‘Sri Lankan Expatriates for Change’, an organization formed by the Sri Lankan expatriates based in Milan in Italy today said they have decided to refrain from remitting dollars to Sri Lanka as a protest against whom they call corrupt politicians who had ruled the nation in the past and now.
“It is common knowledge that the economic crisis in Sri Lanka was not caused by the fall of tourism industry or the decline that the Lankans abroad remit funds. It is the present rulers who had forced our relatives back home to suffer in long queues and to languish in darkness. It was the corrupt politicians who rule the nation now and those who ruled in the past who had wasted and robbed our blood and sweat.
Therefore, we the Lankan expatriates abroad have decided not to remit any dollars to Sri Lanka till a corrupt-free government is established,” Sri Lankan Expatriates for Change said in a statement.
“It is hilarious to note that they are saying their dwindling tourism dependency and expatriate remittances were the cause for the country’s present situation. It was their inability to take meaningful steps to resolve Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. It is the duty of the government to take meaningful and tangible measures to resolve the issue,” the statement added.
“Many countries have managed to stabilize their economies successfully after the pandemic and it is totally unacceptable blaming the pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war for the current perilous economic crisis in Sri Lanka,” the statement asserted referring to President’s address to the nation on Wednesday.