Sri Lanka is witnessing the return of long queues, this time outside the Department of Immigration and Emigration, due to a shortage of passport books. The government’s failure to supply enough passports has sparked a scenario reminiscent of the 2022 economic crisis when long queues formed for essential items like fuel, cooking gas, and medicine.
During the previous crisis, the government of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa ran out of foreign currency, causing widespread shortages. His successor, President Ranil Wickremesinghe, was praised for ending these queues through IMF-backed economic reforms.
However, the current queue for passports has arisen from a new issue: the government running out of blank passport books due to higher demand from citizens wishing to leave the country.
“There is a deficiency. I apologize on behalf of the government,” said Foreign Minister Ali Sabry during a media briefing in Colombo. “We have migrated to a new electronic passport system, and new passports are expected from October 16. Until then, we will have to manage with the current stock. I agree we could have planned better.”
The Department of Immigration and Emigration acknowledged the shortage and stated it has had to limit passport issuance temporarily. A foreign company has been contracted to supply the new digital passports, with 50,000 blank passports expected to arrive by the end of October.
The Department also noted that despite the high number of passport applications last year, only 23% of the new passport holders traveled abroad. It urged the public to apply for passports only if they urgently need to travel.