Explained: The row over 'Whites-only' party in Sri Lanka

A shocking development has occurred in Sri Lanka.

A Russian business owner attempted to hold a ‘White-only’ party in a popular resort town.

The event, which was to be held on Saturday, was ultimately cancelled after an outpouring of outrage.

This comes in the backdrop of Sri Lanka announcing it would no longer extend long-term tourist visas for Russians – thousands of whom moved to the country amid the war in Ukraine.

Let’s take a closer look:

According to BBC, the event was slated to be held at the Sarayka Lounge in the southern coastal town of Unawatuna five kilometres from Galle.

The Independent reported that over 288,000 Russians and nearly 20,000 Ukrainians have traveled to Sri Lanka since the start of the Ukraine war.

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The town itself seems to be a safe haven for Russians.

TRupasena Koswatta, president of an Unawatuna entrepreneurs’ association told BBC Sinhala many Russians have moved into the town.

So much so that the place is now known as ‘Little Moscow.’

Russians also several tourism businesses in the area.

Both the organiser and the owners of the Sarayka Lounge are said to be Russian.

According to The Independent, the gala was advertised as a “White Opening Party.”

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It laid out specific dress code requirements of white attire and also said “Face control: White.”

According to Yahoo News, three Russian DJs were to play at the event.

News of the event led to much criticism on social media.

“We need to ban this shit. We get discriminated in embassies, passport queues, the whole lot; last thing we need is people coming to Sri Lanka and hosting whites-only parties,” a user was quoted as saying by The Independent.

“I know not all expats are like this… but this sort of thing should be stopped fast and stopped hard,” said one local restaurant owner.

“How dare they come to a brown country and ban the people of that country,” a social media user on Facebook was quoted as saying by the BBC.

“We apologize! The party planned for Saturday will not take place. We have urgently canceled this event. Also, we have severed ties with the organizers who planned this party at our venue,” Sarayka Lounge said.

The BBC quoted the venue as saying its team “did not conduct a thorough-enough check” of those that planned the event.

“We have never supported and will never support various racist statements or organisations,” the venue added in the statement.

The organiser of the party has since apologised on Instagram.

‘No malice or racism involved’

The man, writing from the handle handle geo_ecstatic, said “no malice or racism” was involved planning the party.

“We wanted to meet expats who have been living here for a long time and love Sri Lanka. The team… supported me and a joint decision was made to quickly organise a party,” he said.

The man said he had to leave Sri Lanka after being abused and threatened.

“I didn’t expect this to be such a sensitive moment for a huge number of people. I admit that it was a bad idea… and I understand that we created it ourselves out of our stupidity. I deeply apologise to everyone whose feelings were hurt.”

The Independent quoted the Russian Embassy in Colombo as saying “strongly condemns all forms of racial discrimination and nationalism”

The embassy urged Russians to follow local laws and customs.

The development comes as authorities said they would cancel extensions of long-term tourist visas, as per Yahoo News.

The nation, which has been struggling with an economic crisis, has repeatedly extended tourist visas – particularly to Ukrainians and Russians.

But now it seems that is at an end.

The Tourism Development Authority issued a notice saying Russian and Ukrainian tourists must leave the country by 7 March after their final visa extention.

The Immigration Department previously said the visas were being extended due to the “non-operation of airlines in the region.”

But President Ranil Wickremesinghe has claimed the visas cannot be voided without Cabinet approval.

ordered an investigation into the notice, saying the visas could not be canceled without cabinet approval.

“The Govt hasn’t officially decided to revoke visa extensions previously granted to these tourists,” his office said Sunday in a post on X.

It remains to be seen if the party is over for Russians and Ukrainians in Sri Lanka.

With inputs from agencies