Sri Lanka declares state of emergency; put on hold your travel plans

Sri Lanka has announced nationwide state of emergency to take stern actions against the communal violence happening in the state. Travel advisories have been issued on Sri Lanka after this declaration.

The island nation has been trying to boost its tourism industry after it was faced with a devastating 28-year-civil war between the government and Tamil separatists in the north. In 2011, the nation also faced the state of emergency, which got lapsed in November 2011.
The government has imposed 10-day nationwide emergency, for the time being, to bring down the tensions between Sinhalese, the Buddhist community and Muslim communities in the state.

The tension between the two communities has existed for decades but have turned worse since the end of the civil war.
To mitigate the situation, the government has planned to deploy soldiers in the civilian area initially for 10 days, at which point the deployment would need to be ratified by parliament, said Mano Ganesan, the Sri Lankan minister for co-existence.


Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Monday that the violence in the town “appeared to be systematic and organised” and promised the government would take stern action.

As a nation that endured a brutal war we are all aware of the values of peace, respect, unity & freedom. The Govt condemns the racist & violent acts that have taken place over the last few days. A state of emergency has been declared & we will not hesitate to take further action.

— Ranil Wickremesinghe (@RW_UNP) March 6, 2018

Currently, the government of the United Kingdom and Canada have also announced travel advisory for Sri Lanka, and advised their citizens to take high degree of caution while travelling, and avoid rallies and protests within the state.