While what's happening elsewhere in the world is definitely impacting the country, the majority of the blame should be placed on one family and those around it.<p>The Rajapaksha family helped end a 30 year civil war, it was a bloody horrific war, however as this was the most important issue for most Sri Lankans at the time, helping end this meant the Rajapaksha's were seen as the saviors,they were at the time considered kings, people used to cry in joy when they see them, they were that loved and celebrated within the country.<p>This gave them a lot of power and popularity, anyone with a Rajapaksha name ran for all types of government positions, and most of them actually won, people accepted them with open arms. At the same time with the power the Rajapaksha's had they were able to promote their family members, some of them who didn't even have a highschool degree in to high ranking positions within government institutions.<p>So, half of the family was elected by the people, the rest was promoted due to nepotism.<p>What happened was a decade worth of corruption, a family that didn't have much, some of whom worked as gas pump operators in the US (the current president) suddenly became billionaires. One of the main culprits was an animal named Basil Rajapaksha, he was so corrupt people called him "Mr 10%" because if any construction or any type of project were to start, you have to allocate 10% of the profits and the initial investment to Basil rajapaksha.<p>If I were to write all the corruption, human rights violations and the day light robberies committed by the rajapuksha family we would be here all day.<p>Sri Lanka is a majority Buddhist country, in Buddhism we are taught of Karma, and how what you do to others will one day return back to you. And as a Sri Lankan this is what I feel is happening to us now. The sinhalese majority of Sri lanka, killed, looted and raped Tamil people which led to the 30+ year civil war, and we encouraged and looked the otherway when the rajapaksha family & co killed, raped and looted the Tamil population in the name of stopping the war. We looked the other way when they destroyed someone else's future because it was easier than finding a sustainable solution.<p>If I manage to survive this and one day have children, this is all I would tell them, "If you see an injustice, speak up, do something about it, because otherwise, they will come for you and you will be all alone".