Lagatar24 Desk
Colombo, July 13: Amid the worsening political unrest and economic crises in Sri Lanka, the US Embassy in Colombo on Wednesday decided to suspend its consular services for the ensuing two days.
“Out of an abundance of caution, Consular is canceling our Wednesday afternoon services (American citizen services and NIV passback) as well as all consular services on Thursday,” the embassy tweeted. “We apologise for any inconvenience and will reschedule all canceled appointments,” it added.
Colombo | US Embassy in Sri Lanka cancels its all consular services for today & tomorrow amid fresh protests pic.twitter.com/J0eqvRmj3p
— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2022
President Gotabaya of Sri Lanka, who is under fire for mismanaging the economy and leading the island nation into bankruptcy, escaped to the Maldives on a military jet on Wednesday, hours before he was scheduled to resign. A state of emergency has also been declared by the administration.
According to media reports on Wednesday, the anti-government demonstrators, who are also calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, planned to organise protests against him. Wickremesinghe has already made a resignation offer.
The President’s House, the Presidential Secretariat, and Temple Trees, the official residence of the prime minister, were all overrun by demonstrators who are still occupying them. They are calling for the resignation of President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe.
The 22 million-strong nation of Sri Lanka is experiencing the worst economic crisis in seven decades, leaving millions of people unable to afford basic necessities like food, medicine, and fuel. Last Monday, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe declared Sri Lanka to be insolvent.
