Sri Lanka is in crisis. This week, the houses of government-aligned MPs have been set on fire and vehicles across the island left overturned. Several people have been killed, hundreds injured. Anti-government protesters are continuing to clash with supporters of the Rajapaksa clan, and the military has been deployed to impose a state curfew.

This explosion of violence, which came after a month of relatively peaceful demonstrations in response to the country’s economic crisis, is not uncommon on the island even in the cosmopolitan Southern capital of Colombo, home to the country’s political and financial elite. But it has been several years since this level of widespread unrest has occurred, driven by a dire economic crisis that has affected all levels of Sri Lankan society, including the affluent middle class.

Cash-strapped citizens have had to deal with frequent power shortages, record levels of inflation, and shortages of essential goods such as food and medicine. Sri Lanka’s government has been forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for aid after months of denial.