Police use tear gas to disperse Inter University students federation members during a protest demanding the implementation of the promised changes to the governing system, in Colombo, Sri Lanka on March 7, 2023. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)





Commuters wait to board a train at the Fort railway station during a nationwide strike in Colombo on March 15, 2023. Sri Lanka deployed armed troops as trade unions crippled hospitals, ports and banks March 15 to protest against high income taxes imposed as a precondition for a crucial IMF bailout. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)





A vendor selling ice cream waits for customers at the Galle Face Beach in Colombo on March 20, 2023. Cash-strapped Sri Lanka is seeking a 10-year moratorium on its foreign debt, President Ranil Wickremesinghe's office said on March 20 on the eve of a desperately needed $2.9 billion IMF bailout. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)





A Sri Lankan trader arrives at a market place for business in the morning in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, March 21, 2023. The International Monetary Fund said Monday that its executive board has approved a nearly $3 billion bailout program for Sri Lanka over four years to help salvage the country's bankrupt economy.(Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)





Laborers load sacks of imported potatoes to hand carts at a market place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, March 21, 2023.(Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)





A man walks towards a market place carrying curry leaves in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, March 21, 2023.(Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)





A vendor arranges vegetables as he waits for customers at a market in Colombo on March 21, 2023. Sri Lanka must not allow entrenched corruption to undermine a bailout for its bankrupt economy, the IMF said on March 21, 2023 after signing off on a $3 billion loan for the crisis-hit nation. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)





A road side betel vendor waits for customers at a market in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 21 March 2023. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on 21 March that their executive board approved a three billion US dollars Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Sri Lanka at a time when the country was experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades due to the lack of foreign reserves. (Photo by Chamila Karunarathne/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)





Participants take part in a canoeing event along the Mahaweli River during the “Raid Amazones 2023”, a women's adventure race, in Digana village some 17 Km from Kandy on March 23, 2023. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)





Hindu devotees participate in the annual festival of the Vishnu temple in Colombo on March 29, 2023. Hundreds of Hindu devotees attend the colourful celebrations during which the Tamil people parade through the streets surrounding the Vishnu temple. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)





A man fills gas into a vehicle at a fuel station in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, March 29, 2023. Sri Lanka’s government has announced reduction in fuel prices, the first significant relief to the public after a year of shortages and skyrocketing prices amid the country’s worst economic crisis. (Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)





A Sri Lankan dancer performs with fire at a Gammaduwa performance, a traditional low country healing ritualistic performance, at a Buddhist temple, in Colombo, Sri Lanka on March 31, 2023. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)





Wild deer rummage through garbage dumped at an open ground in Sri Lanka's district of Trincomalee on April 4, 2023. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)





A man works at a firecracker factory to sell their products ahead of Sinhala and Tamil New Year festival, in Kimbulapitiya, Sri Lanka on April 12, 2023. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)





Common Green Forest Lizard (Calotes calotes) on a tree bench at Sinharaja Rain Forest in Kalawana, Sri Lanka, on April 12, 2023. The common green forest lizard (Calotes calotes) is an agamid lizard found in the forests of the Western Ghats and the Shevaroy Hills in India and Sri Lanka. Sinharaja is the country's last viable area of primary tropical rainforest. More than 60% of the trees are endemic, and many of them are considered rare. There is much endemic wildlife, especially birds, but the reserve is also home to over 50% of Sri Lanka's endemic species of mammals and butterflies, as well as many kinds of insects, reptiles, and rare amphibians. Sinharaja Forest Reserve is a biodiversity hotspot in Sri Lanka. It is of international significance and has been designated a Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site by UNESCO. (Photo by Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto via Getty Images)





Sri Lankan policemen patrol on the motorcycles during a silent protest march by the Catholics to mark the fourth year commemoration of the 2019, Easter Sunday bomb attacks on their Churches, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, April 21, 2023. Thousands of Sri Lankans held a protest in the capital on Friday, demanding justice for the victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bomb attacks that killed nearly 270 people. (Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)





A bulb-light path and general view of the Adam's Peak mountain in Hatton, Sri Lanka, on April 22, 2023. Sri Pada, or Adam's Peak, is an ancient pilgrimage site that has long attracted thousands of pilgrims from all faiths. This conical mountain is 7,360 feet (2,250 meters) high, soaring clear above the surrounding mountain ranges. The mountain is located in the southern reaches of the Central Highlands in the Ratnapura District and Nuwara Eliya District of the Sabaragamuwa Province and Central Province, lying about 40 km northeast of the city of Ratnapura and 32 km southwest of the city of Hatton. The surrounding region is largely forested, with no mountains of comparable size nearby. The region along the mountain is a wildlife reserve, housing many species ranging from elephants to leopards and including many endemic species. The region of Peak Wilderness Sanctuary that encompasses the Sri Pada together with Horton Plains National Park and Knuckles Range, all in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka, was recognized as a World Heritage Site in 2011. (Photo by Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto via Getty Images)





Ground staff cover the cricket pitch as rain stops play during third day of the second and final cricket Test match between Sri Lanka and Ireland at the Galle International Cricket Stadium in Galle on April 26, 2023. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)





Members of the People's Liberation Front, a marxist political party, beat drums as they participate in a rally to mark May Day in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, May 1, 2023. (Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)





Portraits of Communist icons, from right, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin are carried on cars during a rally organized by People's Liberation Front, a marxist political party, to mark May Day in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, May 1, 2023. (Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)