Sri Lankan ex-president Rajapaksa arrives in Bangkok after fleeing protests

Gotabaya Rajapaksa flew into Singapore from the Maldives on July 14 after fleeing a deepening economic crisis and widespread protests in his home country, and tendered his resignation shortly after his arrival.

Rajapaksa fled his nation after tens of thousands of protesters overran his official residence last month. (Tananchai KEAWSOWATTANA / THAI NEWS PIX / AFP)

Former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has arrived in Bangkok after his visa ran out following a month-long stint in Singapore where he had taken refuge from protesters at home.

The deposed leader landed on a private jet at Don Mueang International Airport around 8:00 pm local time (1200 GMT) on Thursday, a senior Thai official said.

Rajapaksa flew into Singapore from the Maldives on July 14 after fleeing a deepening economic crisis and widespread protests in Sri Lanka, and tendered his resignation shortly after his arrival.

Sri Lankans arriving in Singapore normally receive a 30-day visa, but authorities said they had initially given Rajapaksa only two weeks and later extended the visa by another two weeks.

The Thai foreign ministry, as well as a source in Colombo, had said on Wednesday that he was seeking a new safe haven in Thailand.

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'No political asylum'

"His Singapore visa runs out on Thursday," a close associate of Rajapaksa in Colombo said on Wednesday. "He had applied for an extension, but it had not come through as of Wednesday morning."

The source said Rajapaksa planned a short stay in Thailand and would return to Singapore.

The Thai foreign ministry confirmed it had received a request from Colombo for the 73-year-old deposed leader to visit and an assurance that he would not seek political asylum.

The Rajapaksa confidant said that the former leader was keen to go home as protests against his administration had fizzled out, but his successor Ranil Wickremesinghe had advised him against an early return.

READ MORE: Sri Lanka's ousted president seeks temporary stay in Thailand

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Singapore officials had said he was on a private visit to the city-state and the foreign minister stressed that he was not given any special privileges.

"In general, the Singapore government does not accord privileges, immunity and hospitality to former heads of state or heads of government," Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said in a written reply to a question in parliament last week. "Consequently, former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was not accorded any privileges, immunity or hospitality."

Rajapaksa fled his nation after tens of thousands of protesters overran his official residence last month angry about acute shortages of food, fuel and medicine endured by Sri Lanka's 22 million people since late last year.

READ MORE: World Bank not to offer new funding for bankrupt Sri Lanka

Source: TRTWorld and agencies

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NYC Mayor Eric Adams blasts Texas Gov. Greg Abbott after second bus of migrants arrives: ‘This is horrific’

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams blasted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday after a second bus full of illegal migrants arrived at his doorstep.

Adams gave a news conference Sunday morning at the Port Authority where he greeted an incoming bus of around 40 migrants — only 14 of whom disembarked in the Big Apple.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, left, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (Getty Images)

"This is horrific when you think about what the governor is doing," Adams said, noting that many of the arriving families did not realize they were coming to New York City.

"We're finding that some of the families are on the bus that wanted to go to other locations, and they were not allowed to do so," the mayor said. "They were forced on the bus with the understanding that they were going to other locations that they wanted to go to, and when they tried to explain they were not allowed to do so."

NPR BLASTS GOP GOVERNORS FOR BUSING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO DC ‘WITH NO PLAN FOR WHAT’S NEXT'

His comments follow the first arrival of around 50 migrants at a Port Authority in New York City on Friday. The bus arrived on the orders of Abbott, who has been shipping border-crossers into liberal cities to bring attention to the issue of illegal immigration in his own state.

Adams has accused the governor of using innocent people "as political pawns to manufacture a crisis."

On Sunday, he complained that Abbott’s administration was not giving New York City a proper heads-up when the migrants will be arriving.

113 HAITIAN MIGRANTS IN CUSTODY AFTER BOAT RUNS AGROUND OFF FLORIDA COAST

"They’re not letting us know when the buses are leaving. They’re not letting us know what are the needs of the people on the bus," Adams said. "They are not giving us any information, so we’re unable to really provide the service to people en route." 

Abbott has also been sending illegal immigrants to Washington, D.C., since April to protest the Biden administration’s refusal to act on the border crisis plaguing Texas.

"In addition to Washington, D.C., New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city," Abbott said in a statement on Friday. 

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He added: "I hope he follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief."

Fox News’ Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report.

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Pope arrives in Canada for 'penitential pilgrimage' over Indigenous abuse

Pope Francis began a fraught visit to Canada to apologise to Indigenous peoples for abuses by missionaries at residential schools, a key step in the Catholic Church’s efforts to reconcile with Native communities.

Francis, in a wheelchair, exited the back of his plane with the help of an ambulift before being driven in a compact white Fiat to an airport hangar where he was greeted by Trudeau, Simon and other dignitaries. (Reuters)

Pope Francis has arrived in Canada, where he is expected to personally apologise to Indigenous survivors of abuse committed over a span of decades at residential schools run by the Catholic Church.

The head of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics landed at Edmonton's international airport shortly after 11 am (1700 GMT) on Sunday, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcoming him in an airport ceremony that began with the playing of Native American drums.

During the 10-hour flight from Rome Francis told journalists travelling with him that "we must be aware that this is a penitential journey."

The 85-year-old pontiff's Canada visit is primarily to apologize to survivors for the Church's role in the scandal that a national truth and reconciliation commission has called "cultural genocide".

From the late 1800s to the 1990s, Canada's government sent about 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children into 139 residential schools run by the Church, where they were cut off from their families, language and culture.

Many were physically and sexually abused by headmasters and teachers.

Thousands of children are believed to have died of disease, malnutrition or neglect.

READ MORE: Explained: Canada’s 'cultural genocide' of Indigenous people

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'Too late'

Since May 2021, more than 1,300 unmarked graves have been discovered at the sites of the former schools.

A delegation of Indigenous peoples travelled to the Vatican in April and met with the pope — a precursor to Francis' six-day trip.

In the community of Maskwacis, some 100 kilometres south of Edmonton, the pope will address an estimated crowd of 15,000 expected to include former students from across the country.

Some see the pope's visit as too little too late, including Linda McGilvery with the Saddle Lake Cree Nation near Saint Paul, about 200 kilometres east of Edmonton.

"For me it's kind of too late, because a lot of the people suffered, and the priests and the nuns have now passed on," said the 68-year-old who spent eight years of her childhood in one of the schools.

"Being in the residential school I lost a lot of my culture, my ancestry. That's many years of loss," she told AFP news agency.

READ MORE: Pope apologises to Canadian indigenous for abuses

Source: TRTWorld and agencies

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