International creditors should provide debt relief to Sri Lanka to alleviate hunger, says Amnesty International

Sri Lanka, dealing with the worst economic crisis since 1948 because of the shortage of foreign exchange, has defaulted on its foreign loans

Photo for representational purpose only.

PTI

Colombo, October 5

International creditors should provide debt relief to Sri Lanka to alleviate suffering as its people endure hunger, worsening poverty and shortages of basic supplies in the worst economic crisis since independence, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka, dealing with the worst economic crisis since 1948 because of the shortage of foreign exchange, has defaulted on its foreign loans.

“The Sri Lankan authorities and the international community must act quickly to mitigate the widespread human rights cost of the crisis, which has cruelly stripped away people’s access to their rights,” said Sanhita Ambast, Amnesty International’s Researcher on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Sri Lanka now needs to restructure its USD 51 billion debt and is in talks with international creditors such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to get debt relief.

A preliminary agreement with the IMF for a USD 2.9 billion relief package hinges on other creditors giving assurances on loan restructuring.

Lenders should ensure that “their human rights responsibilities and Sri Lanka’s human rights obligations are central to any future commitments around Sri Lanka’s debt, including restructuring and changes to the terms of repayment”, London-based Amnesty International said.

“For months now, the people of Sri Lanka have been suffering from severe shortages of food and have struggled to access healthcare, while sky-high inflation has exacerbated already existing patterns of inequality,” the group said in the statement titled “We are near total breakdown”.

Ahead of a vote on a new draft resolution this week at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Amnesty urged Sri Lanka’s leaders and the international community to safeguard human rights in handling the crisis by increasing international assistance, ensuring comprehensive social protections and considering “all options for debt relief, including debt cancellation”.

Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange reserves have dwindled, with people facing shortages of essentials such as fuel, medicine and cooking gas, leading to protests that ousted the then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The Rajapaksa family has been widely blamed for the crisis that has left the country scrambling for dollars.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s brother Mahinda Rajapaksa was also forced to step down from the post of the prime minister.

Cooking gas supplies were restored through World Bank support, but shortfalls of fuel, critical medicines and some food items persist in the island nation.

The Amnesty report said that as of June, about 11 per cent of households reported receiving no income while 62 per cent said their incomes had fallen.

Consumer inflation surged to a record of nearly 70 per cent in September while food prices nearly doubled, according to the government’s latest statistics.

Agricultural yields dropped by more than half in the past two growing seasons because of a suspension of imports of chemical fertilisers, ostensibly to promote organic farming.

According to the World Food Programme, more than 6 million people — nearly 30 per cent of Sri Lanka’s population — are currently facing food insecurity and require humanitarian assistance.