British media’s racist lens on drug arrest in Sri Lanka

Tuesday, 27 May 2025 00:54 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

In recent days, several major UK media outlets have chosen to focus not on the serious crime committed by a British national arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport, but rather on her discomfort with Sri Lankan prison conditions. The woman, reportedly attempting to smuggle over a million dollars’ worth of cannabis, now faces charges under Sri Lanka’s drug trafficking laws. Yet, British headlines have instead centred on her claims of being held in a “hellhole” and complaints that she has not eaten for two days because the food is “too spicy.”

Let us be clear: Sri Lanka is not obliged to accommodate alleged drug traffickers with five-star comforts or tailor our national cuisine to foreign palates. The fact that this individual was not arrested in a country like Singapore—where such offences often carry the death penalty—should not be lost in the conversation. What is more disturbing than the woman’s lack of regard for the laws of a sovereign country is the manner in which the British press has chosen to report this case.

There is an unmistakable tone of racial superiority and entitlement in the framing of these stories. The underlying message is that this woman, by virtue of being white and British, is somehow entitled to special treatment—even in the face of grave criminal allegations. This is not just poor journalism; it is outright racism and an example of the persistent white saviour complex and supremacist attitudes that continue to taint Western media narratives about the Global South.

Sri Lanka’s judicial and correctional systems, like those in many developing nations, are not without their flaws. Reforms are necessary and overdue. The legal process must be efficient, transparent, and humane. Prisons must meet international minimum standards. But these reforms must be for the benefit of all detainees—regardless of nationality, race, or background—not just for those who attract foreign media attention.

It is deeply hypocritical for the British press to sensationalise the living conditions of someone charged with drug smuggling while failing to condemn the crime itself or investigating the links to greater cartels which use young women as mules to smuggle narcotics across international borders. Moreover, such reporting implicitly undermines the sovereignty of our justice system, which is tasked with protecting the Sri Lankan people from the harms of narcotics.

The British media would do well to redirect their outrage. Rather than coddling alleged criminals from their own country, they should be urging their citizens not to break the laws of other nations. If one wishes to avoid what they call “hellhole” prisons and spicy food, the solution is quite simple: do not traffic drugs in countries with strict drug laws.

The racial undertones and colonial hangovers evident in this coverage deserve to be condemned with the strongest contempt. While Sri Lanka addresses its own shortcomings it need not be a playground for the West’s double standards. Justice here is not—and should not be—determined by skin colour or nationality.

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