Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled his country in July after protesters stormed his official residence and threw a four-day house party, is applying for a U.S. green card and looking to settle in America, Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror reported on Thursday.
The Daily Mirror cited anonymous, “highly placed sources” who claimed that Rajapaksa was unhappy in Thailand, where he had moved from Singapore last week, and seeking to take advantage of the fact that his wife Ioma Rajapaksa is an American citizen.
Rajapaksa left the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka in the worst economic state in its history, the result of devastating policies including the outlawing of chemical fertilizer to create an “all-organic” farming culture – resulting in the nation losing its food independence – and the signing of vast sums in predatory loans offered by communist China. As Sri Lanka is a socialist country, the irresponsible spending resulted in Sri Lanka running out of foreign currency reserves and not being able to import food, gasoline, medicine, or other critical goods.
KANDY, SRI LANKA – APRIL 26: Demonstrators wear masks of Basil Rajapaksa, the Finance Minster of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka as they demonstrate the country’s ongoing economic and political crisis on April 26, 2022 in Penideniya, Sri Lanka. Demonstrations have continued across the tiny South Asian island nation for weeks, voicing anger against what they say is the government’s mishandling of the economy that has caused millions of its people facing shortages of essentials, prolonged power cuts, soaring prices, a crippled health care system and an economic collapse of unprecedented levels that has led to record inflation adding to their hardships. (Photo by Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images)
Widespread protests against food and fuel shortages began in March this year, concluding with protesters burning down upwards of 150 homes belonging to government officials and the storming of the presidential palace. Rajapaksa held onto power for months while attempting to quell protests by firing members of his cabinet, including brothers Mahinda and Basil. Mahinda, himself formerly the president of the country, left the prime ministership after protesters burned down his house. Basil Rajapaksa, the former finance minister, attempted to flee the country as Gotabaya left for the Maldives, where he landed before heading to Singapore, but Sri Lankan airport staff refused to allow him onto an airplane. He remains the national organizer for the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the Rajapaksa family political party.
At their peak, over 40 Rajapaksa family members held high-level government positions. None remain, though Basil Rajapaksa remains a prominent power broker through his role in the now-opposition SLPP.
Now deposed, Gotabaya Rajapaksa appears to intend to “settle” in America, the Daily Mirror reported.
“Highly placed sources said that Rajapaksa’s lawyers in the United States had already begun the procedure last month for his application to obtain the Green Card as he was eligible to apply due to his wife Ioma Rajapaksa being a US citizen,” the newspaper alleged.
GALLE, SRI LANKA – JULY 09: Anti-government protesters hold placards during protests calling for the resignation of Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on July 09, 2022 in Galle, Sri Lanka. Beleaguered Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said he would resign after he fled his official residence in Colombo following thousands of anti-government protesters storming the compound. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)
Rajapaksa is cutting his time short in Thailand, where he had intended to stay for most of the rest of the year, and returning to Sri Lanka on August 25 as he awaits processing to travel to the United States, the Daily Mirror claimed. Its sources reportedly said that Rajapaksa did not expect the Thai government to curtail his “freedom to move” to the extent they did, essentially preventing him from leaving his temporarily home for “security reasons.”
“Upon his arrival back to Sri Lanka this month, the cabinet will discuss to provide Rajapaksa a state house and security accorded to a former President,” the Mirror claimed.
Any debate to use the limited funding the government has on hand to bankroll Rajapaksa’s lifestyle will likely be contentious and trigger more protests. Sri Lankans did not cease to express their outrage following Rajapaksa’s departure, demanding to know exactly where the money for his flights from Maldives to Singapore to Thailand were coming from. A spokesman for the cabinet of the current president, Sri Lankan establishment staple Ranil Wickremesinghe, said on Tuesday that Sri Lankan taxpayers paid for the flight from Thailand to Singapore last week.
“Each and every executive president retired and widows of those passed away enjoy benefits, privileges and special facilities and they are also paid an allowance under the ‘President Entitlement Act No. 4 of 1986’,” spokesman Bandula Gunawardana told reporters. “Therefore, the government is committed to pay former President Rajapaksa’s bills.”
Gunawardana added that the public would also pay for any “facilities and privileges” Gotabaya Rajapaksa requests when he returns from abroad.
If and when former President Rajapaksa returns home in future, the government must provide him with all the facilities and privileges entitled to a retired President from the public purse, he added.
Wickremesinghe’s Information Department contradicted Gunawardana, stating following those comments that Rajapaksa was paying for his travel with his personal wealth.
GALLE, SRI LANKA – JULY 09: Anti-government protesters gather in the street during protests calling for the resignation of Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on July 09, 2022 in Galle, Sri Lanka. Beleaguered Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said he would resign after he fled his official residence in Colombo following thousands of anti-government protesters storming the compound. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)
The news that Gotabaya Rajapaksa would return to Sri Lanka on August 24 came from former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga in remarks made to the press after being interviewed by law enforcement; Weeratunga is facing charges of money laundering and embezzlement.
“The date could change. I am saying it with responsibility today. I can’t help if he changes the date later,” he added as a caveat, offering August 24 as Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s return date.
Weeratunga appeared to express reservations about the possibility that Gotabaya would return to politics: “I don’t think our people should be foolish again. He is not a clever person as a politician. He is a clever military officer. He does not have any quality that Mahinda Rajapaksa has. That is why he got all wrong.”
Neither Gotabaya Rajapaksa nor any government official has admitted that signing onto predatory loans from China helped lead the nation to economic collapse. Wickremesinghe’s government has instead pleaded with communist China for more funding and support, rather than attempt to extract itself from Chinese influence. Gotabaya Rajapaksa did admit to the failure of the chemical fertilizer policy, however, which greatly reduced crop yields, ended Sri Lanka’s food independence, and resulted in severe food shortages.
“I feel that the failure to provide chemical fertilizer to farmers was a mistake, we have taken steps to provide that again,” Rajapaksa said in April.
The ex-president’s admission has not stopped other countries, notably Canada, from following in Sri Lanka’s footsteps and curbing fertilizer use.
President Wickremesinghe reportedly met with Basil Rajapaksa on Thursday in an attempt to solidify SLPP support for his government. Protesters who called for Rajapaksa to resign have been demanding Wickremesinghe also cede power as soon as possible, citing a lack of popular mandate to govern. Wickremesinghe was “elected” president by members of the Sri Lankan parliament, with no input from the general public.
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