Combatting the Scourge of Human Trafficking
COVID-19 and the severe economic crisis has resulted in an increase in human smuggling, illegal migration and forced labour in Sri Lanka. People are heavily in debt after taking loans to tide…
Poverty
The Dire Straits of Colombo’s Working Class Poor
The World Bank The impact of the economic crisis on the working class poor of Colombo over the past year cannot be overstated. Many of these households were already affected by the pandemic…
President Wickremesinghe Has His Moment
Latina For President Ranil Wickremesinghe, March has been an exceptionally good month. First China gave its assurance for his government’s debt restructuring plans. Then his school, Royal College, won its annual cricket…
Making the IMF Work for Sri Lankans
The government of Sri Lanka is negotiating a large conditional loan from the IMF. A formal agreement is likely to be signed within weeks once all the main creditors provide the IMF…
Sri Lanka at 75: A Photostory
This year’s independence day will be our country’s 75th. It marks an important step in the post-colonial history of the country, and one that serves as an indicator of how our nation…
Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Politics of Incompatibility
A recent World Food Programme (WFP) report underlines the magnitude of the food crisis in Sri Lanka. The report shows that 36% of the country’s households are effectively food insecure while 76%…
President’s Anti Freedom Crackdown Undermines Trust
As Sri Lankans continue to suffer the effects of the economic crisis and varied human rights abuses, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has made clear his willingness to use force against people who protest…
Abandoned to Their Fate, Northern Villagers Battle to Survive
They are a small, tight knit community held together by their shared suffering and insurmountable difficulties. Ever since the start of the 1983 civil war, their lives have been marked by tragedy…
Exploited and Abused: the Sad State of Sri Lanka’s Children
This year the theme for Universal Children’s Day is equality and inclusion for every child. Every child regardless of class, color, creed or ethnicity is protected by the UN Convention on the…
2023 Budget: False Promises at the Expense of Women and Working People
The government’s budget presented on November 14 is incredibly callous. It fails to acknowledge the suffering Sri Lankans are enduring due to the economic crisis. The budget speech refers to rapid economic…
Red Lights Are Flashing as over 9.5 Million People Descend into Poverty
Sri Lanka is experiencing its worst economic crisis since independence with a rapidly declining economic growth rate coupled with widening deficits in the balance of payments, government budget and investment and savings.…
Creating a New Poor: the Fertiliser Ban that Marked the Beginning of the End
Although Sri Lanka takes pride in being an agricultural economy, the agricultural sector only contributes to 7.4% of the national Gross Domestic Production (GDP) out of which only 5.2% comes from farming. Despite…
Thinking About Resilience Beyond Coping in the Fishing Industry
Although the current financial crisis has had a broad impact on life and livelihoods in Sri Lanka, the effects are felt by different social groups in varying and unequal ways. When a…
Facing Starvation: Averting a Catastrophe
Scrolling through newsfeeds I find at least one article that refers to the number of people who are starving every day in Sri Lanka. My friends who are teachers say that children’s…
The Politics of Economic Reform
The recent tax proposals have created quite a ruckus in all quarters of Sri Lanka. While the popular opinion was that economic reforms would be opposed by the poor and the trade…
