Fed-up Sri Lankans rush for passports

COLOMBO, July 21 (AFP): One of the longest queues in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo is for the exit, as thousands of people line up outside the immigration office seeking passports to escape the country's economic crisis.

Every day, about 3,000 people submit their papers and 15,000 rupees (USD 42) to obtain travel documents. The office is running 24 hours a day, six days a week to try to cope with demand.

Many applicants still have to wait overnight, like Madushini, 35, whose guesthouse business in the western province of Udawalawa fell victim first to coronavirus and then to the financial turmoil.

Now, she wants to find work in the US, where her cousin lives.

"Bookings from foreign tourists have dried up, so I need to find a way to earn and secure my son's life," she told AFP, giving only one name.

"The whole country is closed, and we don't have money."

Some of those waiting in the queue go without food and water for fear of losing their place, sweating in the humid tropical weather.