Sri Lanka gripped in the middle of its worst economic crisis has announced it would sell long-term visas to attract desperately needed foreign currency, as the country runs out of dollars to pay for food, medicine and fuel.

Foreigners who deposit a minimum of USD $ 100,000 locally will be granted permission to live and work in Sri Lanka for 10 years under the Golden Visa Programme, the Sri Lankan government said last week according to the AFP news agency. 

Tamil families of the disappeared continued their protests across the North-East, demanding justice and accountability for their forcibly disappeared relatives.

Families gathered in Vavuniya, Mannar and Kilinochchi towns, joined by local activists and politicians.

Standard and Poor's has cut Sri Lanka's sovereign rating to 'selective default', as the country missed interest payments on USD $ 1.25 billion worth of sovereign bonds.

Individual securities were downgraded to default of D, the rating agency added.

Sri Lanka has 30 days to make payment on the coupon which was due on April 18.

“We do not expect the government to make the coupon payments within 30 calendar days after their due dates,” Standard and Poor’s said.

Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has agreed to ‘take steps’ towards creating an all-party interim government, according to a release from his office earlier today, with reports that his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa may be removed from his post as prime minister.

The press release says Rajapaksa met with “party leaders and representatives” to discuss the terms of a new all-party government, with former president Mathripala Sirisena present at the discussions. 

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian S Sritharan told Sri Lanka’s parliament last week that the words of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader V Prabhakaran have “become a reality in Sri Lanka,” as he spoke on the murder of a Sinhala protestor by police.

Speaking in parliament, Sritharan paid tribute to Chaminda Lakshan who was shot dead by Sri Lankan police last week. He went on to quote Prabhakaran to parliament, stating,

Memorial events were held across the North-East to mark the 17th anniversary of murdered Tamil journalist, Dharmeratnam Sivaram. 

Despite widespread unrest and anti-government protests in the South of the island Sri Lankan authorities continued to suppress Tamil remembrance activities in the North-East, said Tamil National People’s Front parliamentarian Selvarajah Kajendran in parliament last week.

The Tamil lawmaker was commenting on how Sri Lankan authorities had blocked the children of Annai Poopathy, a Tamil women who undertook a hunger strike until death in 1988 as she protested against atrocities committed by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). 

Amidst Sri Lanka’s political and economic tumult, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, made a historic visit to Jaffna where she met with Tamil families of the disappeared, major Tamil political parties, civil society actors, religious groups, and business communities to discuss the impact of the crisis.

A Sri Lankan court has reportedly barred a Tamil parliamentarian from joining protests, after an order from Sri Lankan police was approved earlier today.

Kaluwanchikudy police in Batticaloa reportedly received approval for their order blocking Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian R Shanakiyan  from joining protests.

“Again shows that law enforcement in the NE is different from the rest of the country,” tweeted fellow TNA MP M A Sumanthiran. “Over to those who wonder why NE is reacting differently now!!”

A Sri Lankan court has rejected a request from police that sought to prevent protestors gathering outside Temple Trees in Colombo this week, just days after another Sri Lankan court granted a police order to ban commemoration events for a Tamil hunger striker.

The Colombo Magistrate’s Court refused an order requested by the Colpetty Police to prevent protesters from protesting opposite the Sri Lankan prime minister’s residence at Temple Trees