UK and New Zealand govt advise citizens against non-essential travel to Sri Lanka

The governments of New Zealand and the United Kingdom have warned their citizens against non-essential travel to Sri Lanka. Given the current political upheaval in the country, the UK and New Zealand have revised their travel advisory level issued for Sri Lanka.

Micheal Appleton, New Zealand High Commissioner to Sri Lanka said that their citizens have have been advised against non-essential travel to Sri Lanka because of the current scenario. The country is going through a bad economic crisis and suffering from many issues such as fuel shortages.
As per NZ travel advisory, the country is seeing protests, demonstrations and political rallies on a daily basis. The streets of Sri Lanka are brimming with police and military. Therefore the government has advised New Zealanders in Sri Lanka to stay inside and avoid protests, rallies and large gatherings.

On the other hand, the UK’s Foreign Office also put Sri Lanka on its ‘No Go’ travel list. The UK’s Foreign Office said, “Sri Lanka is experiencing a severe economic crisis which has led to shortages of basic necessities including medicines, cooking gas, fuel and food. There is a major shortage of fuel (diesel and petrol) affecting transport, businesses, and emergency services. There are daily power cuts due to electricity rationing. This has led to protests and violent unrest. Further protests, demonstrations, roadblocks and violent unrest could occur at short notice.”
Sri Lanka was visited by nearly 200,000 British tourists back in 2019 (before pandemic). In 2020, the number went down to over 55,000 because of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.