Sri Lankan President Gets Rejection in Maldives, Residents Angry Government Protects Criminals

MALE, KOMPAS.com – News about the President Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to Maldives sparked a strong reaction from the country’s citizens, who accused their government of helping a neighboring country’s leader escape legal proceedings.

Rajapaksa fled to the neighboring Indian Ocean islands hours before keeping his promise to step down over Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Also read: [POPULER GLOBAL] Sri Lankan President Escapes | Sri Lankans find it hard to eat in crisis

The 73-year-old man flew on a Sri Lankan Air Force plane on a pre-dawn flight with his wife and two bodyguards to the Maldivian capital Male, the Sri Lankan Air Force said.

Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday (13/7/2022) afternoon, a group of Sri Lankan expats staged a protest on an artificial beach in Male, carrying a banner that read: “Dear Maldives friends, please urge your government not to protect criminals.”

Riot police quickly seized banners and placards, and dispersed the crowd. A Sri Lankan man was arrested.

The anger and solidarity of the Maldivian community for Sri Lankans has also flooded social media and in the comments section of outlet news.

The South Asian national called repatriation Rajapaksa and condemned the “shameful” decision to facilitate the Sri Lankan president’s escape.

Also read: Sri Lanka’s President Escapes When the Country Goes Bankrupt, How Worse Are the Conditions Now?

Concerns have also been raised over the safety of some 8,000 Maldivians living in Sri Lanka amid the ongoing unrest.

The Maldives government “hosting Gotabaya Rajapaksa and helping him avoid accountability for war crimes and corruption is a betrayal of the Sri Lankan people and activists who have supported the struggle for democracy in the Maldives,” tweeted Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur and former Maldives foreign minister.

Ismail Naseer, editor of the Maldives’ main newspaper, asked in an editorial: “Why should the Maldivian people intercede for an easy escape, after making a country fall to the ground? Why did the Maldives government have to fall to such a lowly country?”

“Why is one person becoming more important to the country of Maldives, while millions are starving and desperate? No one’s giving an answer!” he protested.

Also read: Key Figures in the Rajapaksa Dynasty that Ruled Sri Lanka to Bankruptcy

“Corrupt Maldivian politicians are using this for their own benefit. It has nothing to do with the country. Thank you for interfering with the most precious diplomatic relations. Shameful and shameful moment to be Maldives. #maldivesstandswithsrilanka,” tweeted the @shani1i account.

Corrupt Maldivian Politicians fascilitated this for their own gain.Nothing to do with the nation.
Thanks for disrupting the most precious diplomatic ties between.
Ashamed & embarassing moment being a Maldivian. #maldivesstandswithsrilanka ????????????????

— Shani (@shani1i) July 13, 2022

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