The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism has expressed deep concern over an Iranian missile strike at Kuwait International Airport that left three Sri Lankan nationals injured, Ada Derana reported.
In a statement on Thursday, the Ministry said the safety, well-being and security of over one million Sri Lankan citizens living and working in the region remained a paramount priority for the Government of Sri Lanka. It called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s commitment to supporting global efforts to uphold regional peace, security, and the protection of civilians.
The statement is Colombo’s first formal diplomatic reaction to the Tuesday strike, which Kuwait has attributed to Iran. The Foreign Ministry did not identify the three injured Sri Lankans, name a specific hospital where they are being treated, or describe the severity of their injuries.
The Foreign Ministry’s intervention follows the Iranian missile that struck a Kuwait Airways aircraft and parked vehicles at Kuwait International Airport on Tuesday, the first direct hit on Gulf civilian aviation infrastructure since the start of the wider regional escalation. Kuwait responded by expelling Iranian diplomats and lodging a formal protest at the United Nations. NewsFirst earlier reported that three Sri Lankans were among those injured in the attack.
Sri Lanka has a substantial migrant workforce across the Gulf, with Kuwait alone hosting tens of thousands of nationals — most working as domestic workers, in the construction sector, or in service-industry roles. Repatriation requests from the diaspora have already risen in response to the Israel–Iran conflict, with airlines including Kuwait Airways and Turkish Airlines expanding Colombo capacity earlier this year.
The Foreign Ministry has so far stopped short of issuing a formal travel advisory or warning Sri Lankan workers against deploying to Gulf countries, but its statement marks the strongest expression of diplomatic anxiety since the regional crisis intensified. Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, who has used recent international engagements to call for Middle East de-escalation, was not directly quoted in Thursday’s statement.
