and, and it will, you know, push people into destitution and misery were, and it won't have any impact on the numbers of people who are forced to take dangerous journeys across the channel each year. instead, they want the government to invest more in the so called safe passage routes for refugees to reach the u. k. at the moment it's only available for those playing ukraine, hong kong and afghanistan. though in the 22 afghans uses path last year, we'll 8600 arrived by small boat. 65000 refugees and migrant are expected to crawford saddled for boat. in the next 10 months, according to the home office. whether this proposed policy will deter them, or even encourage a fresh wave remains to be seen. what cliff is it legal and practical challenges with you that this lesson with charlie angela algae there. sassy. ah,

this is out is there it is your top stories, and he's 6 palestinians have been killed during an israeli army raid in the occupied westbank. slowly forces stormed a refugee camp and janine on tuesday fighting then broke out between troops and palestinian gunman after house was surrounded. israel's prime minister, as one of the dead had been responsible for killing to his rallies last month. us officials are reported to be reviewing intelligence spouse suggest that a pro ukrainian group may have carried out an attack on the north stream pipelines last year. the pipelines carry natural gas from russia to europe. the u. s. nato said the explosion in september was an act of sabotaged moscow. blame the west. my cannon has more but we do know that this is yet another example of speculation about who was responsible for that pipeline attack. the new york times quotes what it calls an identified intelligence sources who provided the same formation,

saying that the r u. s. intelligence had surmised that a was a ukranian resistance group. however, both state department and the national security council. oh, refuse to confirm or even demise. this report, no discussion whatsoever about it. so as yet this report is entirely unsubstantiated. apart from those are named an an identified sources. thousands of protesters have rallied and george's capital tbilisi against a controversial so called foreign agents. spill. protesters are worried it could impact the hopes of joining the european union. george as president intends to veto the law to for americans who were kidnapped and mexico and friday have been found dead to others have been released and are being treated at a u. s. hospital the group was abducted by armed men while driving into the city. if not tomatoes. 3 candidates competing to succeed. nicholas sturgeon,

as scotland 1st minister, hell their 1st televised debate attacked each other over their roles in government exchanges were dominated by social and economic ashes. and scottish independence. the u. k. government has unveiled a bill aimed at curbing the numbers of undocumented migrants arriving on british shores to fulfill the prime ministers promised to port any one entering in a way the government describes as in eco k. there's a headline. sneeze continues here on al jazeera coming up next the stream. stay with us to al jazeera, we ask, but should they not be more oversize, perhaps, of foundations like yours? we listen when it comes to diversification. we don't do it in order to beat gets we don't the rational energy source. we meet with global news makers and talk about the stories that matter on al jazeera. i

welcome to the stream. i'm at 7 dean 3 like us government hopes. the international monetary fund will soon approve a loan to help lift the country out of its worst economic crisis since independence . but millions of sri lankan are struggling with steep tax and price rises that the government says are needed to satisfy. i am f creditors. today we look at the pressure people are under and ask what's needed to build a better future for all. ah, joining us for today's discussion in colombo, we have harsha da silva. he is an opposition sri lankan member of parliament and economists. and bonnie fonseca is attorney at law to center for policy alternatives . and of course you can join today's conversation, send us your comments and questions through our live you tube chats. let's take a look back at some recent developments in sri lanka. first off,

for those of you who have not been following this a story very closely while sri lankan economic challenges deepened in early 2022 with the country mired in debt, people began protesting about shortages of food, fuel and medicine. then president and go to buy out read to pox out eventually caved to public pressure and fled sri lanka in july, 2022. now renella wicker m a sango was elected president by parliament within weeks . the government reached a provisional deal for an i. m f, loan worth $2900000000.00. now the release of funds ultimately depends on satisfy the conditions that were set by the creditors. there are with that knowledge which are to guess of course, no, i mean this is a story we've been following closely. i want you, if you can, i'm har said to explain for our audience, sort of the economic challenges, the pressure people are under and what's the climate now. thanks

for inviting me on the shore. i mean, in the last few hours, the managing director of the national monetary font tweeted that since the lanka has now got financial assurances from audits, creditor countries including china, that she's now looking forward to taking the sri lanka matter up at the executive board on the 20th, which means this is the best news. so the government could have had, since you know, this trouble started and they went to the i, m f in around august of last year. which means a light at the end of the toner from, from an economics perspective. and so it's, it's really good news that really clearly changed the cause

of the economy. and then i've been privy to avi c, outlining the signal from crystelina. now that china has guaranteed kind of the loan, it seems as though things are going to be moving forward. we can talk about that a little later. but what is it like for people on the ground there? i know you're a human rights lawyer. i mean, could you just pain a picture for us of, of how bad things are and not just in the economic sense? well, i mean this is the thing is the situation has been rod the grave, the last couple of months and over a year and the fact that people are facing dire straits. you know, there was food program has said what 30 percent of families are. food being secure . people are skipping meals, malnutrition nice on the right. i mean, we may not have the long q 3 sewing 2022 that led to the big protest plan.

but people are struggling, so that is something we need to recognize. so you know, we're what happened today. read the potential good news with the package hor, fully actually has a direct impact on the people who are suffering. so, you know, the question though is how long really t for people to actually see tangible change. so while we talk at the macro level, you know, there are things moving for people for the daily struggles they, you know, that's going to take a long, good time for people to actually experience that know, and i appreciate you kind of highlighting that because that's the reality on the ground for the people who have been protesting and who feel as though their grievances maybe aren't being heard or addressed by the government. with that in mind, i do wanna just hear from them directly. here's the video that was filed a few weeks ago by my colleague and now about

a fisherman who's struggling with daily life in rural sri lanka. take, listen for more than 40 years. fishing has been a way of life from ireland and indeed the bundle in today he is struggling to survive without water them. but at that the price of fuel is too high. it was 70 to rupees. a liter. now it's more than 4 times that the price of net have also gone up and they don't last as long things are very difficult. fishermen across the country are facing the same struggle. if they do land a proper catch, they can cover their costs. debts amounting to length is worst economic crisis in memory, left the country bankrupt, unable to pay for basic essentials like food, medicine, and fuel. so what are, what, what, what did, when you see this video harsh or what are the opposition parties trying to do an edge in here? i mean, in the absence of the i m f alone,

it seems like that's being framed as the only solution but, but for this fisherman, i mean, how does that help them feed their children? well, actually we really do. so understand what the issue really is. we are not only facing a liquidity crisis by crises of solvency and in that is not just a 1000000000 not to us dollars. we need to get back on our feet, but a complete all of the economic structure. and now we saw that fisherman that, and he said that the price of fuel went up by 4 times. that is true. now, the reason for that is fear that needs to be prized or to reflect it's cost. now when you do that, it is certainly going to have a big impact on,

on some people, particularly the low income. now the, the challenge for the government is a, how do they identify these people and how do they ensure that they are taken care of? so the issue is not giving fewer ad so and it will be a lead out for everyone in command richby but, but you know, those are restructured in the subsidy scheme. so this is something that had to happen or to be enough time i didn't. and i saw the material of my being an opposition upon these. yes, i have to admit that you know, unless we do these changes that we cannot get out of our solvency problem, mavita, go ahead. jump in there. so can i just said this crazy sammy, we're seeing it in 2022 now the pretty solid that it's, it's

a governance crisis seats. the fact that just getting an eye image bailout is not going to solve these problems. so we have deep, structurally neat qualities and reforms are necessary, but what you say going to be, how is it going to be different? and this is, these are some very fundamental questions we need to address. so can that government at this moment, we've, depressed, and cray says, getting this i am, if be allowed to feed, actually comes through what is going to be the friend he's going to be the big question that we need to all address. because otherwise, he might be the 17 be allowed, but does it really make a difference? yeah, and are we going to repeat the same? we stay we're, i'm not an economic expert. that's why you're here harsh on part. but that seems like a very common sensical place for a person's brain to go. i mean, it's happened 16 times. this would be the 17th time. what makes this different is, i think, a rhetorical question that is guiding this conversation. but i, i want to ask you, i mean, it seems like it's re, lankin households. it's no longer about simply having less meals, perhaps,

you know, trying to cut costs. but there is some basic food items that just simply they can afford. we know that adults are skipping meals in order to feed their children, half of households. the children's food intake is so much less, i mean, when, when they're in such dire straits. and then you see the government, for example, postponing local elections. i'm does that in still sort of faith in the citizens who have been protesting for for more than a year now. yeah. on why was this boned could you, could we just i, i think i threw a lot of things that you there. but why were the elections postponed? i mean, 1st of all elections up, osborne, because the government has no chance of winning the election. and as long as they think that to the account when the election, it will get boss borne by me. i'm going to fight it up and it goes back to end to the supreme court. and the supreme court now said that the government, really,

the treasury cannot any longer hold back funds for the election. and just last night, the election commission said that by the 25th of all of april that we should attempt to hold this election. but coming back to bonnie's point of view, it is absolutely correct. and it's a governance issue. and why we've got to this point is because, you know, we, we didn't fix that. now, due to your appliance, about why 16 times. and yeah, why easy going it different? this data is something that is really different this time. and that is, this is the 1st time we've gone to the i m f as a bankrupt nation in that we had to, in the previous occasions just deal with the i m f. and then on many of the loans that we had agreed to in the past re just, you know,

reneged on them and half way. we said we are no longer going to keep the conditions that we had agreed. but this time around we got 3rd parties. we got, we got the bilateral creditors like china and india, and the pattern on the one hand, who now tried us down to a program that was basically agreed with the i m f based on what's called a debt says tell ability analysis. and then on the other hand, we've got all these private creditors who want in to about $15000000000.00 worth of international solid in bonds with whom we haven't even started discussions yet. so just because i am a sand slope we are going to start releasing money won't fall in and few weeks time . only now we will start discussing money with money. looks like he wants to get in . i appreciate you raising these points by vonnie. go ahead. well look, i mean end of the day i think we need to be very mindful of what's happening on the

ground. the crises such that as you mentioned, the figures are there that people are suffering days or so this warri while the government is now saying yes, d i m f package. i mean the narrative that he's being created that's, that's important. we have to go through this but days a very, very fundamental problem here, when the government is doing everything possible to undermine democratic processes . hutcher is the whole issue of the postponement, our local government election, so that that's a fundamental element in democracy when a government is undermining that in the name off and economic crises that they're bankrupt, that's very, very worried. we need to unpack bed, but the other point i think is very important, is the repression. today we had protests in colombo were seen pretty every day. that's a sign of unhappiness from people. but the force that is being used on people is

also extreme. the warring, the while in studies being used. so there is there a mildly po challenges in sri lanka and just the government saying we've got these i am if package is, are not going to solve all the problems. yeah, and i, i think because it keeps coming back to the i m f package, which is the government's narrative of, you know, preparing the people that this is the solution. this is the only solution. i mean, to me it's certainly these questions you're raising the, you know, it's like the government and the bureaucracy of embraced with sort of a, a shameless enthusiasm, this idea of neo liberal economic reforms, which are, which are to hoping to manage a crisis that in a way was started by, by some of those same sort of reforms. it seems like there's a cycle that 3 long cars in the cycle. and so let's hear from some trade union leaders. and this is from march 1st. and it's a big, basically

a strike action yet another one by the unions that are opposed to the i m f. conditions specifically take listen, ah, we are not in a book that we can't be attack, would it be on the was younger be want to be attacked, but you know, reasonable amount, this amount is not reasonable. that's i be dealing with gama. sure. i'm in the stat 40 idealized vivian goal. what are not that is right or not a major action may be a continuous guy. so thousands of union workers joined these strikes as you know, spending cuts demanded by the i m f, creditors, things that they don't like harsha it looked like you wanted say something about this is now i did say that we need to go through with the i'm a program and that is correct, but i do agree with the gentleman that just book that we need to look at. one of the main issues that is in terms of taxes,

what has happened is we've increased their margins out of tax. they had to 36 percent of income very quickly, which means that professionals and others are really getting squeezed because prices have more than doubled. but incomes have stayed the same. so cost of living has become real and frankly, the price is not just more than doubled. in some cases it's 5 times what they were just not so long ago. i mean, i'm not, i guess what i'm asking if you look at that, that clip that we just played. and we know that, of course, that protest that strike was in defiance of the president's executive order. i mean, this is the sort of oppression or repression that i think you're talking about. why is that so part and parcel with any solution from the i am asked for from other bilateral agreements?

i mean, why is it important for the government to also address what's happening in the streets and to tell them the repression? i mean, if i, if i may, i mean, i was in one of those protests not 10 days ago and, you know, i was asked and i myself personally have to suffer a little. and that is because we protested, tried democratic right to have elections on back because that needs to be an outlet . ok, i'm in the outlet need not be fighting on the street by democrats kelly. we have to have the board to express anger for most people. and this is only a local government election, not something that changes the government. so now that the government has the money, there is no way they can continue to say they don't have the money to have elections. that excuse is no longer valid. so doubtful our days. absolutely,

no more excuses that the government can give to postpone the lecture, i'm going to assume that we have stayed accents before before too long. so. so, but i, if i may just interject vonny your face is suggesting to me that you don't have a lot of faith in the government's ability to do some of those things that he was just outlining. and i'm curious if these economic hardships continue, if we keep seeing the repression, we continue to see more and more protests if it's going to take a long time. as you mentioned, for those for the i m f impacts to come through. yeah, i think the purchase are gonna continue regardless. i mean people, as i mention about said people need to see tangible change and that's gonna take a while. but that said, i mean one of the failures of this government is that they're not speaking to the people. they're speaking to a particular elite or bear worn circus. they need to communicate and connect with

the citizen. and i go back to what happened last year where the safety sense really came out of the street. there was anger, there was, there were calls for c stem change one year on the question is, has that system change happened? that hasn't happened. so why did what the warring thing is, the government is pushing now to put declined narrative, but dead narrative doesn't take north of the grievances of the general public. yeah, and that's the worry that if they dis, disconnect, continues. there's going to be more and more protests, but then the war rees, what kind of repression, avi, going to see in response to that practice. right. and we've, we've already had a glance of what that might look like from the last sort of rounds of those protests, really a rubbing because you talked about the government's failure to communicate. let's actually see what the president himself has to say about the solution. on the form

of di enough coming soon, take a take a look at what the president had say. dang, i am a son. we don you to come. we expect the, i am after fulfill our commitments and grant approval for the program are either in the 3rd or 4th week of march. after that, i think we will get the 1st round to financing from the world bank. and the asian development bank are what they have been pay. no, i am. if i than this on the policy. if we break the agreement with the i m f, we will have to repay the loans we took from foreign countries and private banks. we will have to pay 6 to 7000000000 annually until 2029. we don't have foreign exchange to pay these loans. that gary might actually be know. so i'm just curious, but i mean what it, what is the alternative to these loans? i mean a, what about that cancellation? is that another solution? is it realistic? is it not well, there are different conversations happening and i think this is, this is the important thing is we look at the different alternatives. why don't like dick cancellation all of those things important conversation to happen. but

the main point is that the government seems to be in the press. it any particular seems to be pushing of one particular narrative, n t 18 north of the shoes that the people are facing. so this is while we talk about, i am. if dick cancellation, all of these things audience did all of these important things for the p, the government to connect with the people and for that to happen, that the space need to be there as well. and the problem is, it seems to be a very one sided narrative that doesn't seem to be taking note of all the hardships people are facing. that said, if the election has happened. yeah, he's the 1st outlet, the people will have. so right, let's hold the democratic process. he's able to go through now, right out executive action, trying to stop that. and the hearts are if i can, i know you wanted to jump in. but before you do, i wanted to share with your audience you were with us back in march of 2022 here at

the stream. and you had some very telling things to save and i'd love to get your feedback on them. now based on where we are now, so take a look at what i'd say to us on here on the stream in march last year. this could have been avoided. this need not have happened. in fact, i made a long speech as the opening speaker for the opposition when 2021 budget was presented in november of 2020. and i noticed that government to seek the support of the i m f. because what we currently have is, are toxic combination of a debt or hand and a liquidity crisis. so i'm wondering when you, when you listen to that, you know and knowing where we are right now, i mean, is debt forgiveness going to be part of this plan? i'm, i'm not setting you up to say i told you so or to tell the government you told them so. but, but is that forgiveness a viable route in your mind?

it is going to be very difficult or to see get forgiveness articulately because this dad was taken by us on the promise that we were going to use it for various development purposes and a pleasant, democratically elected government. dad did that. i mean, yes, there have been instances in the past about, you know, how much debt harsh i want to share with you. sorry for give me on you tube people bringing up an angle that you wanted to talk about before we wrap here. just the geopolitical nature of all this between china and india technical. so no less saying china will also also ask for money that they give with massive interests. and a lot of people bring up india. does that and you think factor into the lack of options other than i m f long? no, i don't think so. in this case it is india and china. now we're largest bilateral

creditors. now that issue that most other countries seem to be. ready having with a does so the nam, zambia chad, both yorba east that they have not been able to unlock their china solution. and now this does not mean what we heard from the i m f. i does not mean that everything is hunky dory and everything is fine from now on. it's just that from what we understand, the chinese have agreed to something similar to what the indian 7th grade right now . it is up to the government to implement while they have promised. and if they don't at the 6 months a chance it may not continued up. the program may fail and it has faded out with multiple times,

like i said in the past. so now what bonnie is saying is critically important and that if the government is unable to listen to the yeah and as opposition parties, while we support sri lanka, don't get me off. we are supporting novi lanka right? yeah. at re um when to the north these are the gum and the sales offering of the people. so forgive me and i sorry for interrupting you. i know you're making an impasse in play here and you're agreeing with bonnie. but this is all the time we have really left for this conversation on this. so i do want to thank you for, for joining us. and i also want to mention, i think it's worth saying that we invited the ruling, i united national party of course, to join us for their point of view. but unfortunately we didn't get a reply. so that's all the time we have for today for this. so, but you can always find us online at streamed on al jazeera, dot com, thanks from ah,

with a diverse range of stories from across the globe. from the perspective of a network journalist on al jazeera. from breaking down the headlines to exposing the powers attempting to silence reporting the listening post doesn't just cover the news. it covers the way the news is covered. oh, now does it informed opinions for right extremely there is really need to be tackled as soon as possible. frank assessments, there was a job about the from government that it's not in for, nor does it go inside story on al jazeera feel production is

responsible for around 7 percent of global c o. 2 emissions. but a solution for this has been discovered. as i b is sweet and largest sheet steel manufacturer. martin pain is leading s s i b 's charge to become the 1st company to bring what's known as possible free steel to market green electricity is used to split into oxygen, which is released into the air and hydrogen which is captured to use energy essentially was very high, going to replace coal that we used today in the preferences and without we get rid of this information from them. again, this is a huge project shrouded in secrecy. i can see the end product. so these are both, it's actually pure i'm. i'm holding a well 1st this is a big step for the whole industry when we make these transition.