A good two weeks after the attacks on Sri Lanka, President Sirisena demonstrates serenity. The country is safe again. Now people are hoping for the return of tourists.
Sri Lanka is trying to return to normal after the terrorist attacks from Easter Sunday. President Maithripala Sirisena said in an interview with the news agency AP that the country is safe again, almost all suspects are dead or in custody: „Our security services have identified all terrorists and 99 percent of them were arrested, one or two are still on the run but we’ll have them soon, we’ve secured their weapons and explosives, and they’ve broken up their retreats and training camps.Our security agencies have been very successful, so our country is in better shape now. “
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also praised the work of the security authorities. But the danger is not yet over, the head of the Colombo parliament said: „We have been victims of international terrorism, and while we have detained all terrorists here in the country, terrorism is not defeated Fighting international terrorism, exchanging information and technology, and setting the legal framework for that. “
Much less tourists
In a series of suicide attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels, around 250 people were killed on Easter Sunday, including dozens of tourists from abroad. Since then, the flourishing tourism in Sri Lanka has drastically collapsed in recent years. According to the Tourism Authority, the number of foreign visitors fell in April by 7.5 percent. This is the biggest drop in a month since the end of the civil war ten years ago.
On the beaches of the resort of Negombo, north of the capital of Sri Lanka, where a bomb exploded on Easter Sunday in the church of St. Sebastian, there is a gaping void. In the beach restaurants and hotels, there are currently hardly any guests.
Actually, her house was fully booked, said hotel owner, Samanmali Collone, a Reuters reporter, but after Easter, all guests had canceled. „The hotel industry is particularly affected by the attacks on April 21. There are no more tourists and I do not know how to continue my hotel, we have to repay our loans and the bank will not approve of any further overdraft from above, it was said. “
Lost title of „best destination“
According to the tourism authority, 2.3 million travelers came to Sri Lanka last year alone. 400 percent more than 10 years ago, immediately after the end of the civil war. The travel guide Lonely Planet gave the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, as the island nation on the southern tip of India is called, the title Best Destination of 2019. But that’s history now.
And it’s not just the hotels that are feeling the slump in booking numbers. Around one million people in Sri Lanka live directly or indirectly from tourism. Souvenir sellers and rickshaw drivers are also affected. „There are 60 TucTuc riders in our association, but right now there is absolutely nothing to do – look, there are only three riders here, but there is no clientele for us – we just stand there and wait,“ says one rickshaw drivers.
Schools reopened
In public life in Sri Lanka gradually returns to peace. The curfews were lifted and at the beginning of the week the schools were reopened, although many parents still kept their children at home. Even in Negombo itself, the tense situation has apparently calmed down again. Violent clashes damaged shops, homes and vehicles of Muslims last weekend.
