When the United States ordered its own diplomats and their families out of a country, it was acting on intelligence the rest of the world did not see. Last week, Washington ordered non-emergency government staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, citing Houthi attacks on civilian airports and critical infrastructure. Meanwhile, India is working to bring home some 3,000 Umrah pilgrims. Sri Lanka’s response, however, as we reported on Sunday, is simply that no Sri Lankan has been reported affected.
That is, of course, welcome news. Yet it is also beside the point. The question is not whether any of our citizens have been hurt so far. Instead, the question is what the Government intends to do if, or when, they are.
Indeed, the facts are sobering. Since early October, the Houthis have struck Saudi airports again and again. By mid-month, the Saudi-led coalition put the toll from those attacks alone at 19 dead and more than 360 injured, with Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport targeted some 20 times in under a fortnight. Then, on 21 October, the attacks reportedly reached King Fahd International Airport in Dammam and Aramco’s Shaybah oil field. As a result, government agencies in Riyadh have told staff to work from home. Moreover, even the holy cities have not been spared: an attack on a power station in Madinah drew condemnation from Pakistan earlier this month. Clearly, this is no longer a skirmish on a distant border. It has reached the capital, the oil-rich east and the very places our pilgrims go to pray.
Against that backdrop, consider what our authorities have offered. To begin with, SriLankan Airlines has suspended flights to Riyadh and Dammam until 1 November. In addition, the Consulate General in Jeddah issued a notice on 16 October about possible flight disruptions, while the Department of Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs asked tour operators to take precautions.
What is more, no one knows how many Sri Lankans are performing Umrah right now. The Hajj and Umrah Committee Chairman conceded as much. Unlike Hajj, Umrah is arranged privately, throughout the year, on individual visas, and pilgrims are free to travel well beyond Mecca. In other words, the State cannot say how many of its citizens are inside a country under missile attack, let alone where they are. Likewise, the suggestion that the Rs 2 million licence fees paid by operators could fund a repatriation is not a plan. On the contrary, it is a hope that the private sector will do the Government’s job.
Nevertheless, pilgrims are the smaller part of the story. Saudi Arabia is one of the largest destinations for Sri Lankan migrant labour. Many are housemaids and low-wage workers whose passports may sit with their sponsors, and whose employers decide whether they can move at all. Consequently, in a crisis they are the last to be evacuated and the first to be forgotten. After all, their remittances helped carry this country through the worst economic collapse in living memory. Surely, we owe them more than a press line.
Therefore, what is needed is preparation. First, an urgent registration drive for every Sri Lankan in the Kingdom, pilgrims and workers alike, through the embassy, the consulate, the Foreign Employment Bureau and licensed tour operators. Second, a clear advisory urging citizen to defer non-essential travel, including Umrah, until the situation stabilises. Third, a contingency evacuation plan, with airlift arrangements through Jeddah, overland routes identified in advance, and understandings with India and other partners to share capacity. Fourth, a dedicated emergency fund that does not depend on operators’ deposits. Finally, a round-the-clock hotline and regular public briefings, so that families at home are not left to rumour and WhatsApp forwards.
Furthermore, Saudi Arabia is not our only exposure. The wider confrontation involving Iran has already seen Gulf states targeted this year, and that is precisely where the bulk of our expatriate workforce lives. Accordingly, a full-blown regional war would bring an oil shock, a collapse in remittances and the sudden return of tens of thousands of workers to a labour market that cannot absorb them. Is there a plan for that? If there is, the public has yet to see it.