UPDATE: Sri Lanka’s exiled president allowed temporary Thailand stay, with conditions

UPDATE

Sri Lanka’s exiled president Gotabaya Rajapaksa will be allowed to stay in Thailand for 90 days, according to Thailand’s Deputy PM Don Pramudwinai. Don is also Thailand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. Don told Thai media that he understands Sri Lankans are angry at their former president, and he stressed that Gotabaya will only be allowed to stay for a limited time. He said…

“In difficult times, we consider many things together, but the important thing is that he doesn’t cause a problem for Thailand, and he doesn’t stay in the country the most more than 90 days.”

Don said that Gotabaya will manage his accommodation. A spokesperson for Thailand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, Tanee Sangrat, told the Bangkok Post that the decision was based on the countries’ “cordial ties” and that “no political asylum has been sought.”

Gotabaya was forced out of Sri Lanka after over 100,000 protesters stormed and set fire to the presidential palace on July 9. This was after Sri Lanka had plunged into chaos in April, after the country experienced a 13 hour power blackout, its longest blackout ever recorded. Since then, the country has been unable to pay for fuel, medicine, and other necessary items.

The embattled president first made his way to the Maldives where he was able to secure safe passage to Singapore on July 14 when he was granted a private visit. Though officials made clear that he had not asked for and was not given official asylum in the country, the Singaporean government did allow him an extension of his stay until August 11.

ORIGINAL STORY

After angry mobs of protesters drove him out of Sri Lanka and into exile, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is now planning to seek a safe harbor in Thailand. According to two sources, he’s expected to arrive tomorrow after taking up temporary residence in Singapore for the past few weeks.

Last month, party leaders in Sri Lanka met and agreed to ask both the president and PM to resign due to an “overwhelming request” according to local lawmaker Rauff Hakeem. Citizens did more than request, however, when over 100,000 protesters, angry about the country’s worst economic crisis in 70 years, stormed the presidential palace on July 9 while simultaneously setting fire to his private residence.

Neither the prime minister nor the president was inside the house when the protestors set the fire, but a video shows the large crowd even swimming in the president’s swimming pool amid all the chaos and the president struggled to flee Sri Lanka when even airport security didn’t want to let him through in protest against him.

It appears now that as his safe harbor in Singapore comes to an end, President Rajapaksa will make his way to Thailand where he will seek temporary shelter. There have been no details released on whether he plans to request official asylum or if Thailand would grant him long-term residency in the kingdom.

Thailand has been friendly to the plight of Sri Lanka though after an urgent appeal on Monday for help feeding malnourished children. The secretary of Sri Lanka’s Ministry for Women and Child Affairs, Neil Hapuhinne, said that out of the 570,000 children under five years old in Sri Lanka, the ministry had counted 127,000 malnourished children in 2021. The ministry is seeking private donations to feed possibly several hundred thousand children.

Thailand is pitching in to help Sri Lanka during its tumultuous economic crisis. Thailand’s Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that the country has donated medicines, medical supplies, food, and financial support to Sri Lanka. Several departments made donations adding up to about 5 million baht, while the Foreign Ministry donated another 1.3 million baht worth of medical supplies to Sri Lanka.

SOURCE: PPTVHD36 | Bangkok Post | Reuters