Sri Lanka reserves funds for airlifting of people from West Asia in case of an emergency

By Yohan Perera  

While warning that Sri Lanka would be plunged into another economic crisis if a regional war breaks out in West Asia, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara yesterday said the government will do its utmost to minimise the effect.  Minister Nanayakkara told a briefing that the supply of essential goods such as fuel would be cut to Sri Lanka if a regional war broke out after the killing of Hamas leader in Lebanon.  

“Sri Lanka’s remittance from the Middle Eastern region could be greatly affected in the event of a bloody conflict in the Middle East. The IMF team is due to arrive in Sri Lanka to discuss releasing the next tranche of its assistance only after the Presidential Election. It will take at least three months for the actual release of the tranche. A regional war in the Middle East could therefore bring added trouble to Sri Lanka given the situation. However, the government will do its utmost to minimise adverse effects,” he said.  

“President Ranil Wickremesinghe had already appointed a committee headed by his Chief of Staff and Advisor Sagala Ratnayake, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera, Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles, Treasury Secretary and me to draw up a plan to face the situation. We will discuss and decide as to what we should do if air travel and shipping lines are blocked in the event of a conflict,” he added.  

Minister Nanayakkara said the task entrusted to him is to ensure the safety of Sri Lankan expatriates in Israel, Lebanon and other areas. “We have therefore decided to focus on providing temporary shelters to Sri Lankan expatriates in the region. The focus would be to repatriate the Sri Lankans if the need arises,” he said. 

 
There are 12,000 Sri Lankans in Israel, 15,000 in Jordan, 7,500 in Lebanon and 5,000 in Egypt according to the Minister. “We will have to pay a total amount of $ 2 million to Israel, $ 2 million to Jordan and $ 100,000 to Egypt to repatriate Sri Lankans living in those countries. We have decided to set aside these amounts and thus prepare ourselves for an emergency,” the Minister said.