COLOMBO, March 2 -- Sri Lanka has introduced a package of emergency measures to protect foreign tourists stranded in the country and safeguard its migrant workers in the Middle East, as escalating regional unrest disrupts air travel and raises fears for the safety of nationals abroad.

The decisions were announced Monday (2) by the President's Media Division (PMD) following a high-level meeting convened the previous day at the Presidential Secretariat, chaired by Deputy Minister of Tourism Ruwan Ranasinghe and Secretary to the President Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.

With airspace closures across parts of the Middle East leaving travellers unable to complete journeys home, the government has moved to grant tourists currently in Sri Lanka ...