So I'm standing outside the passport office here in Battle Ramula area which is in the central

Colombo and apparently it's a quiet day today but there are still hundreds of people in

total gathered here, quite sheltering under trees from the hot sun. They've all come

to get passports, they're queuing here in their hundreds to get out.

I want to go abroad because of the current situation of Sri Lanka. I try to UK or Australia

for nurses. Do you want to be a nurse? Yeah, yeah. Are you a nurse here? Yes, yes. A lot of nurses

are traveling abroad now. Yeah. Lesterri we can't live with this celery. I just have the

idea to abroad but it's not easy. It's not easy. Why do you want to go abroad? The situation

here is not good. Don't want to stay here because of the inflation and the political situation

that is happening in the country. On its way after you attended the enlightenment after

you became the Buddha, can everybody see that? And the hand coming over the right. Just down

the road, tourists are crowding through the city's lavish temples. It seems strange, the

lush parks, the beautiful beaches to the tourists is place looks like paradise. So what exactly

has gone wrong here? Welcome to the documentary. My name is Ed Butler and I'm an assignment

on the BBC World Service. I'm examining the lengths that some Sri Lankans are now going

to to leave their island. Economic migration may be a global phenomenon with some 300 million

people currently living away from their homeland but here in Sri Lanka it seems to have become

a national obsession. Most of my friends from school have left the country, some to Canada,

some to Singapore, mostly to study. From all my older cousins have actually gone to Australia.

So technically I should be next but... Do you want to go? Not necessarily, no.

It's on everyone's minds right, so we also privy to that. For me I feel like I'm kind of

leaving a sinking ship if I do leave but I think is everybody just feels like the be better

...