Sri Lanka Prez Rajapaksa tries to flee but airport staff block his exit

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is due to resign from his post on Wednesday, was stopped from fleeing the crisis-hit nation as airport immigration staff blocked his exit

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, due to resign from his post on Wednesday, was stopped from fleeing the crisis-hit nation as airport immigration staff blocked his exit to safety abroad, reported South China Morning Post.

 

Rajapaksa on Saturday fled his official residence as tens of thousands of protesters, angry over the economic crisis in the nation, stormed his house. The embattled Lankan president later agreed to resign, clearing the way for a "peaceful transition of power". 

 

Rajapaksa, who currently is immune to arrest, wanted to flee to Dubai before resigning to avoid the possibility of being detained, the SCMP said. 

 

However, immigration officers refused to go to the VIP suite to stamp the 73-year-old leader's passport. The president refused to go through the public facilities to avoid reprisals from other airport users, the daily reported.

 

Rajapaksa and his wife missed four flights to Dubai and spent their night at a military base next to Lanka's main international airport.

 

On Monday evening, something similar happened to the president's younger brother and Lanka's former finance minister. Basil Rajapaksa was stopped from boarding a flight to Dubai.

 

Basil attempted to leave the nation, but airport immigration officials refused to let him go out of Sri Lanka after passenger protests, Daily Mirror reported. Basil had to return without being able to proceed after immigration officials' refusal, the report added.

 

Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since independence, which comes on the heels of successive waves of Covid-19, threatening to undo years of development progress.

 

The economic crisis will push families into hunger and poverty - some for the first time - adding to the half a million people who the World Bank estimates have fallen below the poverty line because of the pandemic.

 

(With inputs from ANI)