The United Kingdom has lifted a travel advisory it had imposed on travel to Sri Lanka. According to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office from July 24 Sri Lanka will be exempt from the FCO advisory against all non essential international travel. The office said the decision was taken based on the current assessment of Covid 19 risks in Sri Lanka.
Several weeks ago the UK lifted restrictions on travel for 67 countries. The exemption list included some of key tourist destinations in Asia Pacific such as Malaysia and Thailand as well as financial hubs such Singapore and Hong Kong.But Despite Sri Lanka’s controlled Covid 19 situation, Sri Lanka was not added to the list. Sri Lanka, along with Vietnam were considered as one of the few countries in the world that managed to control the epidemic phase of the Covid 19 pandemic.
At the time in explanation the UK officials said Sri Lanka was not included as Sri Lanka’s Airports remained closed for international travel. It also added that the advisory was under constant review. Also releasing a statement the British High Commission in Colombo said “The process for considering changes to Travel Advice takes into account a wide range of factors, including the entry requirements of that country, the availability of transport options and quarantine requirements.The UK hopes to add other countries to the exemption list as conditions allow.”
