Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya reports that the Bangladesh High Commission in India is on alert for Sri Lankan students in Bangladesh amid violent protests.
Approximately 300 Indian students have returned home from Bangladesh as the student-youth agitation against government job reservation intensifies.
Bangladesh authorities have imposed a nationwide curfew following riots in Dhaka, leaving around 104 dead and nearly 2,500 seriously injured. Police fire has been responsible for more than half of the deaths reported this week.
On Friday, Bangladeshi student protesters stormed a prison, freeing hundreds of inmates amidst ongoing unrest, with significant rallies in Dhaka despite a police ban on public gatherings. The clashes have spread to 26 districts.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk called the attacks on student protesters “shocking and unacceptable.”