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President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed officials to bring back all Sri Lankans including students in Wuhan and Sichuan Provinces where the coronavirus is fast spreading.
The President’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Relations, Ministry of Health, Sri Lankan Embassy in Beijing and SriLankan Airlines have joined together in this exercise. Once the travelling restrictions imposed on Wuhan city are lifted, all Sri Lankan students there will immediately be brought back. Their cost of air travel will be borne by the Government.
Measures are underway to evacuate around 150 Sri Lankan students in Chengdu in Sichuan Province within the next 48 hours.
A special SriLankan Airlines charter flight has been deployed for this purpose, Additional Secretary to the President on Foreign Relations Admiral Jayanath Colombage said.
The Sri Lankan mission in Beijing has received information about a group of 30 students in City of Nanning too.
Collecting of information on Sri Lankan citizens in China is in progress, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Relations Ravinatha Aryasinha said.
Relevant officials are constantly in touch with the students through WeChat, Admiral Colombage said.
Ministry of Health Epidemiology Unit Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera said those who were arriving from China would be subjected to quarantine at airport. Anyone suspected to be suffering from fever will be transferred to the IDH hospital. Their blood and urine samples will be tested at the Medical Research Institute for further clarification. Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi has instructed medical officials to take all necessary measures.
The Sri Lankan Medical Research Institute possesses the capacity to conduct the required medical check-ups. Medical Research Institute Director Dr. Jayaruwan Bandara said equipment and chemicals would flown in to the country if necessary.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said on the instructions of President Rajapaksa, the Sri Lanka Embassy in Beijing, submitted an application to land a Sri Lankan Airlines aircraft in Wuhan city airport to airlift 32 Sri Lankan students including their family members.
The Embassy is closely following up with the Foreign Ministry of China and Foreign Affairs Office of the Wuhan Province to expedite the process of obtaining clearance for the landing of the aircraft, as soon as they are allowed to travel out of their present locations.
The Ministry, Embassy and Consulate Generals are also working with the Sri Lankan Airlines in seeking to operationalize instructions to bring back all other Sri Lankan students presently in China. It is estimated that presently approximately 860 students remain in China, spread in various city centres throughout the country.
Meanwhile, the Embassy in Beijing, Consulate Generals in Guangzhou and Shanghai are in constant touch with the Sri Lankan students in Wuhan and other parts of China to provide information with regard to the precautionary measures to be taken to prevent any infection. The Mission and posts have not received any information on any Sri Lankans infected by the Coronavirus.
In order to provide assistance to the Sri Lankan students and professionals living in China who wish to return to Sri Lanka, the Foreign Relations Ministry in collaboration with its Mission in Beijing and Posts in Shanghai and Guangzhou has secured the immediate application of 50% discount on the airfare of Sri Lankan Airlines for its regular flights operating to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. All Sri Lankan citizens who would like to travel to Sri Lanka from China will be able to obtain 50% discount of the marked fare by calling the Sri Lankan Airlines call center on 0094-777771979.
The Mission and the Posts are on a 24-hour operation to provide any assistance for Sri Lankans living in China, their parents and relatives. Information can be received from the Mission by calling the hotline on 0086-10-65321861/2. The following officers can also be contacted for queries about the Sri Lankans living in China and their relatives. The officers can be reached on a 24-hour basis on the following numbers:
Mr. Alexi Gunasekera, Minister (Commercial) Mob. 0086 13070138025
Brig. Kalpa Sanjeewa, Minister Counsellor (Defence) Mob. 0086 13051733302
Mrs. Inoka Weerasinghe, Second Secretary Mob. 0086 15116905523
Mrs. Thilini Gunaratne, Second Secretary Mob. 0086 13121722296
Mrs. Manorie Mallikaratchy, the Consul General of Shanghai can be contacted on 0086 13472771702 or Mrs. Geetha Perera, Attaché on 0086 159 0094 6639 to obtain information regarding Sri Lankans living in Shanghai, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Hunan.
Mrs. Priyangika Dharmasena, the Consul General of Guangzhou can be contacted on 0086 18814134670 or Mrs. U.K.G.Roshini, Attaché on 0086 13902301874 for information regarding the Sri Lankans living in Guangdong, Fujian, Hainan, Guangxi, Jiangxi.
SriLankan Airlines in a separate announcement said acting swiftly on the instructions of President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in the light of the Coronavirus pandemic, the national carrier has taken steps to facilitate the return home of Sri Lankan students who are currently in China.
The airline is immediately providing a 50% discount to students who wish to return on the airline’s regular scheduled flights from Beijing and Canton.
In addition, SriLankan is planning to operate a charter flight for the students currently in China. Discussions are ongoing with relevant authorities in both China and Sri Lanka in this regard, including civil aviation and health authorities and Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Coronavirus, which originated in China several weeks ago, has spread to more than a dozen countries in Asia, Europe and North America, with more than 1,400 people afflicted and over 40 deaths. Several suspected cases have been detected in Sri Lanka in the past several days.
