Maldives gov’t faces backlash for accepting Sri Lankan president
Maldivians voice outrage as disgraced Sri Lankan leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees to the Maldives.
Maldivians woke up on Wednesday to the news of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s surprise arrival on a pre-dawn flight, sparking a fierce backlash as the Maldives government was accused of helping the disgraced leader escape justice.
Rajapaksa fled to the neighboring Indian Ocean archipelago hours before his promised resignation over Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in decades. The 73-year-old flew on a Sri Lankan Air Force plane with his wife and two bodyguards to the Maldives capital, Male, the Sri Lankan Air Force confirmed.
On Wednesday afternoon, a group of Sri Lankan expatriates protested at the artificial beach in Male, carrying a banner that read: “Dear Maldivian friends, Please urge your government not to safeguard criminals.”
Riot police swiftly snatched banners and placards, and dispersed the crowd. One Sri Lankan man was taken into custody.
On social media and in the comment sections of news outlets, Maldivians expressed outrage and solidarity with Sri Lankan protesters, calling for Rajapaksa’s repatriation and condemning the “shameful” decision to facilitate his departure. Concerns were also raised over the safety of an estimated 8,000 Maldivians who reside in Sri Lanka amid the continuing unrest.
The Maldivian government “sheltering Gotabaya Rajapaksa and aiding him evade accountability for war crimes and corruption is a betrayal of the people and activists of Sri Lanka who had supported struggle for democracy in Maldives,” tweeted Ahmed Shaheed, a UN Special Rapporteur and former Maldives foreign minister.
Ismail Naseer, the editor of the Maldives’ main newspaper, asked in an op-ed: “Why should Maldivians become the intermediary for fleeing easily after running a nation into the ground? Why should the Maldives government fall to such a lowly state? Why did one person become more important to the Maldivian state while many millions are starving and despairing? There’s no one to give an answer!”
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES