Sri Lanka is witnessing a concerning surge in crime rates, particularly in house break-ins and shootings over the past six months. Authorities attribute these increases to various factors, including the economic crisis of the previous year, unemployment, and the overseas operations of drug kingpins based in the country.
According to the Police, there have been a total 89 incidents of shootings in this period, of which 77 have been fatal, while 40 have resulted in injuries and in 15 there was neither a fatality nor an injury.
The Western Province and the Southern Province have seen the most number of shooting cases, with 18 cases of deaths by shootings and 12 injuries in the Western Province and 16 deaths and 11 injuries due to shootings in the south.
Police Spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa, speaking to The Sunday Morning, noted that while some types of crimes remained stable, house break-ins and shootings had risen noticeably.
“What we have identified is that the number of house break-ins and the number of shootings have increased in the last six months or so. There hasn’t been a noticeable increase in the other types of crimes, but there has been an overall increase in crime rates because that is the norm when society develops. Crime rates gradually increase when a society develops, there is nothing that we can do about that.”
He attributed the increase in house break-ins to unemployment, especially among those previously employed in the construction sector, adding that many unskilled labourers who had once taken day jobs to support their drug habits were now jobless and resorting to robbery to fund their addictions.
“While we have not fully analysed this, what we have noticed is that most of these house break-ins are due to a lot of people becoming unemployed due to the economic crisis last year. One major factor is the loss of jobs by those employed in the construction industry. A lot of those were unskilled labourers and among them were drug addicts who would do day jobs to earn money for their habits. They are now unemployed and have resorted to robbing houses to maintain their drug habits.”
Drug deals
The rise in shootings, according to Thalduwa, is partially due to drug kingpins operating from overseas, directing criminal activities in Sri Lanka. These leaders’ absence makes it challenging to apprehend and dismantle these criminal networks.
“There are several reasons for the increase in shootings. One reason is that a lot of the drug kingpins of Sri Lanka are now based overseas. They get their lackeys in Sri Lanka to do their dealings. They organise their crimes from various other countries. This factor has delayed the process of apprehending the ringleaders and putting an end to the criminal activities in Sri Lanka. We are able to catch the small fish here, but the gangs’ activities are able to continue because their leader is safe overseas and is able to send funding and hire more lackeys.”
Furthermore, the extradition and prosecution of criminals in foreign countries can be hampered by differences in laws and policies.
“We do work with INTERPOL on these cases, but the problem is some of the laws in those respective countries make it difficult for us to have them either extradited or even prosecuted in the courts of law in those countries. Their domestic laws and policies are different. We of course pursue these criminals; it just takes longer to apprehend them.”
Gang violence
Additionally, increased violence among drug dealers has resulted in gang splintering, resulting in numerous smaller, more violent gangs.
“Another issue is that even drug dealers themselves have become more violent among themselves. We have incidents where one party that is buying the drugs will take the drugs but not pay. Such things lead to violence between separate underworld gangs. In other instances, when the ring leader goes overseas, those second in command split the gang and carry out their own criminal activities. Then the ringleader fights with them in retaliation. In this way, a lot of gangs have splintered and there are numerous smaller gangs operating now. This is similar to what happens in Columbia and in other South American drug cartels.”
Government approach
To address these issues, the Government has initiated a committee through the Ministry of Public Security to assist in profiling identified criminals and combating those orchestrating crimes from abroad.
“There is a significant move among authorities to tackle this issue. The Police Department is duty bound, but other entities such as the Intelligence networks of the State are also involved in gathering information. New strategies are being formulated. The Special Task Force is also heavily involved. This matter won’t be resolved overnight, but action is being taken. In addition, a committee has been appointed by the Ministry of Public Security to assist in this endeavour. They are tasked with things like developing profiles for the criminals who have been identified and helping with apprehending those organising crime from overseas.”
Social consequences
University of Colombo Department of Sociology Professor M.T.M. Mahees highlighted the social consequences of the economic crisis, leading to poverty, malnutrition, and health issues.
“In any country, when there is an economic breakdown because of an economic crisis, it leads to many other social crises like poverty, malnutrition, and health issues. When these happen together, we call it a social disorder. When there is dysfunction in any system in a country, people try to find their own solutions. You might have seen that people are getting arrested for petty crimes like thefts in shops and boutiques, where people have stolen things like milk powder and other essential items. This clearly indicates that severe poverty has spread throughout the country.”
Urban low-income groups are especially vulnerable, with many resorting to theft of essential items, he added.
“Urban low-income groups are the most vulnerable, unlike those groups in the villages who have things to manage their hunger and other basic requirements of life. But when it comes to urban low-income groups, they find it very difficult to survive. I don’t see the Government or any other responsible organisation paying attention to them. In Sri Lanka, we have more than one million three-wheeler operators, boutique owners, pavement hawkers, coolies, and day wage labourers and they are all finding it difficult to live. They have gotten used to particular living conditions. We, as the middle class, are managing the social cost – things like weddings and other functions.”
Mahees called for attention towards Sri Lanka’s urban low-income groups, emphasising that these communities were finding it challenging to survive and that the economic crisis had led to conflicts within families.
“Due to the current conditions, coupled with the fact that people have no choice but to do what they were doing before, even within a family there are conflicts. There isn’t proper love, peace, and goodwill in the family because breadwinners are under pressure from their families. Single-parent families are in an even worse scenario.”
Poverty can result in anomic conditions, where societal norms and values erode, potentially driving people to criminal behaviour, he noted.
“Poverty is more than the inability to fulfil food and other day-to-day requirements. Poverty also leads to a vulnerable culture that will lead people to do anything else that they come across. Sociologically, this is known as an anomic condition. When a country is badly affected by an economic crisis it leads to a ruleless, normless, and valueless society. Under these conditions, people are persuaded to commit criminal behaviour.
“I’m not referring to organised crime; that is a separate thing which can happen in any part of the country because of political support and negligence. What I’m referring to is some of the unseen or subjective issues of poor people like farmers, fishermen, and urban communities, because they have no hope or plans to migrate to another country. They are barely surviving and are living hand to mouth. If these groups start breaking the law in the future, then we will all be in trouble. There will be a level of cultural tolerance for them.”
He advocated for the Government to reduce the cost of essential food items, suggesting that this would benefit the most vulnerable segments of society more effectively than programmes like Aswesuma.
“Providing things like Aswesuma, which is very much politicised, is necessary only for people who are biologically or physically weak and find it very difficult to earn an income. Instead, the best thing is for the Government to use these funds to reduce the price of essential food items and the basic things people need to survive, reducing the cost of living.”
Mahees also recommended collaboration by State universities to identify and support vulnerable individuals and communities at the grassroots level, citing the need for a coordinated social mechanism.
“The Government doesn’t make use of the State universities. It should use some of them to conduct a study in the Western Province and do networking and coordination to identify the people who are in the most vulnerable condition and then we can help. There are enough organisations and people would be willing to help, but this must be properly coordinated. There must be a social mechanism to identify these people and help at the grassroots level.”
Sri Lanka is facing growing challenges in curbing rising crime rates linked to unemployment and criminal enterprises operating from abroad, which is compounded by the economic crisis. Addressing these issues will require multifaceted efforts, including international cooperation, targeted social support, and addressing root causes like unemployment and poverty.