Sri Lanka excludes China from visa suspension, Beijing nationals roam without quarantine

While PM Rajapaksa at the SAARC video conference claimed his biggest challenge is to stop and minimize the coronavirus entering into Sri Lanka, his government has not only excluded China from the two-week-long visa suspension but is also allowing fresh arrivals from Beijing to roam freely without being quarantined

New Delhi: In a brazen act of possibly putting the health and lives of millions of Sri Lankans at risk, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has reportedly excluded China from the two-week-long suspension of visas to foreign nationals.

The development comes to light a day after, PM Rajapaksa attended a video conference meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) leaders to formulate a strategy to combat the spread of coronavirus in South Asia.

According to reports, Colombo on 13 March had announced a two-week-long ban on European nationals, coming from COVID-19 hit nations. However, the government did not impose any travel restrictions on China, from where the outbreak of coronavirus was first reported in December 2019.

“The government needs to explain its decision as to why no travel ban was imposed on China. Restrictions to China should have been sanctioned before any other country,” Member of Parliament Saman Rathnapriya Silva said.

Silva claimed that apart from extending this privileged status to China, Colombo has also allowed over 300 Beijing nationals to roam freely in the country without being quarantined.

He questioned as to who in the PM Rajapaksa-led government would take responsibility for permitting Chinese nationals inside Sri Lanka, without them being subjected to mandatory medical-security protocols.

“Sri Lankans are getting scanned and are being put in quarantine, but the Chinese are not. Can Sri Lanka afford such a risk, at the expense of its own citizens? China could not contain and control the outbreak which surfaced in October 2019, and now the entire world is paying its cost,” Silva said, while adding that Colombo under no circumstances must protect Beijing’s interests as the country under President Xi Jinping is facing an uncertain future with the pandemic of COVID-19.

To date, 10 Sri Lankan nationals have been tested positive for the coronavirus infection. Around 103, people in the island nation have been admitted to hospitals, with the possibility of several more cases.

Highlighting the need for the PM Rajapaksa-led government to uphold the slogan Sri Lanka first, several business leaders and media barons expressed their concern, as COVID-19 continues to break borders across the Indian subcontinent.

“In the current situation, all responsible citizens need to collaborate and cooperate with each other as well as all institutions and bodies whether they are private or government. The example should be set by the government who should screen and quarantine all those entering the country regardless of their nationality or business affiliations. Country first should be our slogan,” said Chairman of Headlines PR and Sri Lanka Partner Interbrand Anusha David.

Meanwhile, defending the government’s stance and approach towards Chinese nationals, Sri Lanka’s Director General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe said that the situation in China had been well under control, therefore, such precautions were not required. He added that the outbreak of the virus in China has seen an improvement with just approximately 40 coronavirus cases reported daily.

PM Rajapaksa, on 15 March in his statement at the SAARC video-conference said that his biggest challenge is to stop or minimize the virus entering into Sri Lanka and control the spreading of the virus.

Officials Tracking Over 4,000 Chinese Nationals

As per sources, the Sri Lankan health officials are desperately attempting to track around 4,443 Chinese nationals for signs of COVID-19 infection.

The exercise, which was started in the first week of March, is yet successfully monitor and affirm the locations of all the Chinese nationals, who instead of being quarantined are roaming freely across the island nation.

“The process of monitoring is still being carried out. We are trying to ascertain their movements and destination, since their arrival in Colombo,” a senior Sri Lankan government official told the News21.

While China continues to enjoy a special status, even with the scare of the coronavirus, arrivals from Iran, Italy and South Korea are being sent directly from the airport to quarantine centers where they are being kept for 14 days.

According to official figures, to date a total of 181 individuals including 13 arrivals from Italy and 2 from Oman were sent to quarantine centers.

Meanwhile, after commencing the SAARC conference to devise strategy against COVID-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has started monitoring reports of the virus spread in South Asia.

“We are observing these reports coming from Sri Lanka. The government, even amidst the COVID-19 infection has not stopped the Chinese-assisted infrastructure activities. Most of these Chinese nationals are basically workers at various infra projects in Sri Lanka. We will raise concerns if required through proper diplomatic channels,” a senior Indian government official from the Ministry of External Affairs said.