Ministry of Foreign Affairs has alerted Maldivians living in Sri Lanka following the decision of its government to impose island wide police curfew.
The President's Office of Sri Lanka announced an island wide police curfew will be imposed with effect from 1800 hours of March 20 until 0600 hours of March 23. The curfew was imposed to restrict the movement of the people in efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan President's Office revealed only public transport and essential services are permitted to pass through the curfew-imposed areas during the curfew, adding passengers traveling to the Katunayake Airport can use the air ticket as a permit to travel during the curfew. Following the curfew imposed in Sri Lanka, the government of Maldives advises to follow the orders and instruction of the authorities and to abide by the instructions.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has ordered all citizens to stay indoors for 14 hours. In a televised address, Prime Minister Modi appealed to the 1.3 billion population to follow a one-day curfew alongside a ban on international flight arrivals to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prime Minister Modi ordered all citizens must abide by the Janata curfew imposed from 0700 hours to 2100 hours of March 22. Modi added no one shall neither leave homes, nor get onto the streets or roam about localities while only those associated with emergency and essential services will leave home during this curfew. He further added right now is a time to see how prepared India is to fight off a global pandemic like the COVID-19.
A wide number of Maldivians reside and travel to Sri Lanka and India for various purposes.