Food is becoming more expensive and the price of diesel has more than doubled. In Sri Lanka, the decline in Russia’s war in Ukraine is being paid.
Poor Sri Lanka is slipping into an economic crisis. Tea farm workers notice this in their own daily lives.
When Arulappan Ideijody and her husband Michael Colin have picked up nearly twenty pounds of tea leaves daily, leaving a monthly income of 30,000 rupees. That’s just over 90 euros.
– The daily salary is one thousand rupees (three euros), says Arulappan in an interview with Reuters. – We have to eat even overnight, and yet it’s hard to get even one meal a day.
The state of the island state, with a population of 22 million, is condensing into the daily lives of tea plantation workers.
Rising costs of living are tightening opportunities to get the family’s children to school. The price of a school trip has doubled in a short time, says Arulappan Ideijody.
Corona, drought and a ban on fertilizers are plaguing
There have been plagues: the corona pandemic has hit Sri Lanka’s tourism industry and tea plantations have suffered from drought.
Last year, the country’s government banned the use of chemical fertilizers in cultivation.
At the same time, the price of food has risen by 25 percentage points. Sugar, wheat and rice are becoming more expensive, and the state treasury is not enough to cover the necessary imports. According to the news agency AFP, the Minister of Economic Affairs Ali Sabry warned that the crisis would last at least two years.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksan tax cuts implemented under the leadership have weakened public finances. Sri Lanka is negotiating support with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The situation of tea plantation workers – most of whom are Tamil – is the most difficult. They do not have their own land that would provide food security.
The price of diesel rose by 138 percentage points
In poor Sri Lanka, the threat of famine is real.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the price of diesel has risen by as much as 138 percentage points.
With food shortages and power outages plaguing life in the country, there are widespread protests. In April, one person was killed and more than a dozen were injured when police cracked down on the riot.
The worsening situation threatens the position of the already ruling Rajapaks dynasty. The family has held power in the country for the past few years.
Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war ended in 2009 with the defeat of the Tamil insurgency. Even after the war, which claimed more than 100,000 lives, areas inhabited by Tamils in northern Sri Lanka have been ruled by military means. In the south, the Rajapas family has concentrated their power on nationalism.
Dissatisfaction unites protesters
However, in the context of the economic crisis, there is dissatisfaction in Sri Lanka that unites various groups with protests. British According to the Guardian (you will switch to another service)protests have seen both majority Sinhalese and Tamils. Muslims, the trade union movement and even members of the gender minority community have also been involved.
Protesters believe the breakdown has contributed to Sri Lanka’s plight, the Guardian reported. The protest movement is undermining the position of the Rajapaksa dynasty, which already dominates the country.
One reason for the economic crisis is also to be found in Europe. In the poor countries of the South – such as Sri Lanka on the Indian Ocean – the price of a war destroying Ukraine is being paid.