Sri Lanka: CAFOD urges president to halt crackdown, address economic crisis

Catholic protests in 2020 - Image Caritas Sri Lanka

Source: CAFOD

CAFOD, which has contributed £50,000 to an emergency appeal for Sri Lanka, has called on President Ranil Wickremasinghe to halt his crackdown on protests and address the country's dire economic crisis instead.

Among those subjected to a wave of repression since President Wickremasinghe took office is a Catholic priest, Fr Jeevantha Peiris, who had been in hiding after a warrant was issued for his arrest. A parish priest in one of the poorest parts of southern Sri Lanka, Fr Jeevantha's stand for rights and justice made him an inspiration when protests erupted against the corruption and economic mismanagement which has left the country destitute. Last week he was granted bail after he surrendered to a court.

Over four months of largely peaceful protests drove the previous president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, into exile in July. Rather than meeting the protesters' concerns, however, his successor sent in the army and police to clear protest sites, using considerable violence. Since then, protest leaders and other participants have suffered reprisals, with authorities seeking them out, issuing travel bans and making arrests.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, has condemned the use of violence by the authorities to attack freedom of expression and the right to protest. Over 1,600 priests and nuns in Sri Lanka signed a petition demanding the end of repression against Fr Jeevantha and other protesters.

CAFOD's Country Representative for Sri Lanka, Mary Lucas, said: "The government needs to rethink its heavy-handed approach to dealing with the protest movement. A crackdown is not the solution." The Sri Lankan authorities needed to find ways to engage with the protesters non-violently, and address the root causes that brought tens of thousands of citizens, young and old, on to the streets countrywide.

"The legitimate demands of people who have seen their living standards crash in a matter of months should be dealt with by addressing their concerns, not by assuming emergency powers and engaging in hunts to silence dissenting voices," said the CAFOD representative.

The British government should engage with Sri Lanka, she added, not only to seek an end to the violence but as part of a global response to a crisis beyond the country's ability to cope on its own. The effects of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine meant that numerous other countries were at risk of an economic and societal collapse similar to the one in Sri Lanka.

The United Nations said in June that 5.7 million people in Sri Lanka needed humanitarian assistance. Amid shortages of food, fuel and medicines, the emergency programme of CAFOD's partner, Caritas Sri Lanka, is distributing rations, providing medical and psycho-social assistance, supporting children's schooling, and helping people earn a living.