Sri Lanka‘s former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled abroad after mass protests in July, has returned to the country. Mr Rajapaksa had been staying in Thailand on a temporary visa and flew back home via Singapore.
Some Sri Lankan ministers are reported to have met him at the airport. Sri Lankans blame their government for the island’s worst economic crisis. A collapse in foreign currency led to dire shortages of food and fuel.
Protests began in April, following a sharp increase in food and fuel costs.
Hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life and all communities took part in the largely peaceful protests demanding the resignation of Mr Rajapaksa and his elder brother Mahinda. This then prime minister quit in May.
In July, thousands of people stormed his official residence, and the disgraced president then fled on a military plane, first to the Maldives and then to Singapore, where he resigned. That paved the way for veteran politician Ranil Wickremesinghe to become president.
Mr Rajapaksa’s return is a sensitive issue for the new government, which does not want more protests and will need to ensure his security.
“We are not opposed to the return of Mr Rajapaksa. Any Sri Lankan citizen can return to the country,” Father Jeewantha Peiris, a prominent protest leader, told the BBC.
“People came to the streets because of the alleged corruption against his government. We don’t have any personal enmity against him.” Other protesters say they will oppose any attempt by Mr Rajapaksa to rejoin politics or the government.
“After he returns, we need to take legal action against him for the mistakes he committed as president and file cases against his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa,” another activist Rajeev Kanth told the BBC.
Sri Lankan media reports say the government has identified a house in central Colombo for Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Still, it’s not clear whether he will go straight there or to a secure military facility first.
A defence ministry spokesman told the BBC that Mr Rajapaksa “would be given security as a former president”.