Philippines suspends deployment of new workers to Sri Lanka amid protests

MANILA, Philippines — No new Filipino workers will be sent to Sri Lanka as the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs raised Alert Level 2 over the South Asian country due to mass protests triggered by an economic crisis there.
“Under Alert Level 2, there will be no new deployment of overseas Filipino workers to Sri Lanka, and only those with existing employment contracts are allowed to return to the country,” the DFA said Saturday in a statement.
Despite the DFA raising the alert level over Sri Lanka, it stressed that there are “no plans yet to evacuate Filipinos” from the country that saw its president flee to Maldives and subsequently resign from Singapore after protesters overran the presidential palace.
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“Amid continuing tensions in the country, the DFA reminds Filipinos there to remain in their residences as much as possible, avoid areas where there are protests, and refrain from joining the mass action for their own safety and well-being,” the DFA said.
Latest DFA data show that there are around 700 Filipinos in Sri Lanka, which is experiencing its worst economic crisis since its independence from Britain in 1948 as it experiences record inflation at 54.6% in June.
In May, the DFA said it has not received any requests for repatriation from Filipinos living in Sri Lanka, but added that it is ready to assist them should the need arise.
The South Asian country has seen months of protests over what critics said was former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s mismanagement of the island nation's economy, with a foreign exchange crisis leading to severe hardships for its 22 million people.
Inflation is rampant and the country has nearly exhausted its already scarce supplies of petrol, with the government ordering the closure of non-essential offices and schools to reduce commuting and save fuel.
The spiralling economic crisis led to Sri Lanka defaulting on its $51 billion foreign debt in April, and it is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a possible bailout, but the talks have been thrown off course by the political upheaval.
Acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka’s prime minister who succeeded Rajapaksa in accordance with the country’s constitution, has declared a state of emergency and warned demonstrators that security forces would maintain order. — Xave Gregorio with reports from Kaycee Valmonte and AFP
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