Sri Lankan president’s brother attempts to flee country, thwarted by airport officials, passengers

Former Minister of Finance Sri Lanka Basil Rajapaksa tried to escape from a country hit by a crisis on Monday night, but was thwarted by airport officials and passengers who recognize him and block their way.

The island almost spent a rare gasoline supply. The government has ordered the closure of offices and schools that are not important to reduce travel and save fuel.

Basil, who is also a younger brother from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, skipped his flight to Dubai after passengers protested him when he tried to get on a plane that departed from the International Airport in Colombo.

The videos shared on social media, whose truth in India today cannot verify independently, shows passengers who objected to the presence of Basil Rajapaksa at the airport and demanded that he would not be allowed to leave the country.

Basil Rajapaksa, former Minister of Finance Sri Lanka was rejected by passengers & immigration staff to leave the country to Dubai. Brother Mahinda & Gotabaya also hold an American passport.

The Association of Immigration Officers and Emigration of Sri Lanka said its members refused to serve former ministers in the VIP departure room. The picture that was distributed widely on Twitter shows Basil Rajapaksa waiting in the waiting room after the immigration official left their post and refused to clean it for departure.

Speculation is widespread that Rajapaksa tried to go to the United States, because he also held an American passport. The main sources in the ruling party told Reuters that he was still in Sri Lanka after his efforts to escape were thwarted on Tuesday morning.

Basil Rajapaksa, 71, resigned as Minister of Finance in early April when the street protests jumped against lack of fuel, food, and other needs. He came out of his chair in parliament in June.

High public anger towards the family of Sri Lanka’s rulers who were strong because of their alleged handling of poor economic destruction. Klan Rajapaksa, including former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President who left Gotabaya Rajapaksa, had dominated the politics of the island state for years and most of the Sri Lanka residents blamed them for their current misery.

Economic misery triggered a national protest in March this year, which reached the climax last weekend when the protesters stormed the Presidential Palace and the house of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, swearing to occupy the two places until the two leaders resigned.