Sri Lanka’s ex-president Gotabaya applies for US citizenship restoration: Report

Sri Lanka’s ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has applied for restoration of his US citizenship after he failed to get asylum in any country, a report claimed.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka in July last year and then returned after nearly two months. The US government is yet to consider the request, The Sunday Times newspaper reported.

In 2019, Gotabaya Rajapaksa had renounced his US citizenship to contest the presidential polls owing to Sri Lankan constitution rules which state that dual citizenship holders are barred from contesting elections.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa appealed for the restoration of his US Citizenship after he failed to seek asylum in any country upon fleeing Sri Lanka during the anti-government protests in 2022, the report said.

“An appeal by his lawyers to the US government — more pointedly the Department of State to restore his citizenship, which he renounced to contest the November 2019 presidential election, has still not been considered,” the report said.

The former president and his immediate family are currently in Dubai on holiday, the report said. The appeal is a costly legal process and time-consuming as well, the report said.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka on July 13 last year to the Maldives after which he travelled to Singapore and then to Thailand. He flew back home on September 2.