THE UK government warned Tuesday (5) against routine travel to Sri Lanka as the South Asian country, a popular destination for British tourists, battles economic collapse.
The updated advice from the foreign ministry could invalidate travel insurance for any Britons still heading to Sri Lanka.
The ministry said it “advises against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka, due to the impact of the current economic crisis”.
Sri Lanka is experiencing shortages of food and fuel, with unrest breaking out, it noted.
“Further protests, demonstrations, roadblocks and violent unrest could occur at short notice.”
Sri Lanka’s 22 million people have endured months of high inflation and lengthy power cuts, after the government ran out of foreign currency to import essential goods.
Earlier Tuesday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament that Sri Lanka was bankrupt and the pain of its unprecedented economic crisis would drag on through the end of next year.
(Reuters)
