An Open Letter to the Minister of Aviation

There is a lot of publicity given these days to the government efforts to bring back Sri Lankans trapped abroad due to the COVID-19 menace. Almost every day, we get reports of groups of Sri Lankans being brought back to the island, by the national carrier SriLankan Airways.

In the meantime, the Sri Lankan authorities have been postponing the opening of the Colombo airport continuously for international travel. First it was announced that the airport would be opened for such travel from 1 July. Then, the minister concerned announced that it would be opened by 1 August, and a couple of weeks later, the same minister announced that the opening would be delayed by at least another two weeks, that is, towards the middle of August. 

Just a few days ago, the media announced that till all the Sri Lankans trapped abroad (that is only those Sri Lankans who would be flying SriLankan Airways) are brought back, the airport won’t be opened for international flights. The apparent reason highlighted is that the government intends to give priority to the return of the Sri Lankans living abroad, which at its face value is a worthy cause. 

But this apparently noble idea is somewhat obscured if not camouflaged by a few issues that an ordinary Sri Lankan would not easily perceive. First of all, only the SriLankan Airways flights are authorised to bring the Sri Lankans back. Since the costs of both ways (the flight leaving to another destination and returning to Sri Lanka from there with the Sri Lankan citizens) have to be covered, the passengers have to pay some three to four times more than the amount one normally pays for a single way. 

The second important issue that is conveniently overlooked is that there are thousands of Sri Lankans stranded abroad at the moment who have their return tickets booked on other international airlines, and unless they too can afford to pay such a huge amount to get into a SriLankan Airways flight, they continue to remain trapped abroad, and the writer is one of them. I have my return ticket to Sri Lanka on Qatar Airways, and though I was to leave Rome for Sri Lanka on 1 July, this unnecessary mix up has kept me here in Rome without any hope of returning home as the government (which at the time of writing is obsessed with winning the elections) is apparently least bothered about such entrapped citizens who have to live with hope against hope about their return! 

The third issue at stake is the government mixing up foreign tourists with Sri Lankan citizens in the sense, the minister concerned, continues to talk about bringing back Sri Lankans trapped abroad (meaning that only those Sri Lankans who travel on SriLankan Airways), and insisting that till then, the airport would not be opened to ‘tourists’. The problem is that even those Sri Lankans who travel on other airlines are lumped together with foreigners as ‘tourists’! At the moment, no travel agent or airline knows for sure when exactly the Colombo airport would be opened for international travel. 

To make matters worse, some airlines, such as Qatar Airways, are already operating and coming to Colombo (without passengers) to pick their passengers who are leaving the island. Why cannot the government permit such airlines to bring on such flights those Sri Lankans who are already in possession of a return ticket? The government needs to understand that there are many Sri Lankans who travel by other airlines (just as many of the ministers and members of parliament do), and as such, right now, hold return tickets on those flights belonging to such airlines. To consider only those who fly SriLankan Airways (by paying three to four times more than the normal air fare) as Sri Lankan citizens is unfair and discriminatory, especially at a time when a general election is on. 

As a matter of fact, if as being predicted, there is going to be a second wave of the COVID-19 virus by October/November, the plight of such Sri Lankans who are already trapped (simply because of the present government’s discriminatory policy in allowing Sri Lankans living abroad to return) is sure to become worse, because many airports in the world will be closed again. 

The government should attend to this matter as soon as possible because those who cannot afford to pay three to four times to purchase a return ticket on the national carrier also are citizens of the country who also would love to exercise their vote on 5 August, beside attending to their other important appointments and tasks back home. May the Minister concerned take note of this anomaly of bringing Sri Lankan citizens back home and do something about it. 

Rev. Fr. Vimal Tirimanna, CSsR   

Rome