In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mirror, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry revealed that he experienced sleepless nights during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka whenever a Muslim patient succumbed to the virus. The cremation of bodies belonging to Muslim COVID-19 victims had a profound impact on the country's relations with West Asian nations, Sabry emphasized. As a Muslim Minister serving at the time, he described this period as the most distressing in his life.

Sabry further disclosed that the Cabinet had expressed a collective opinion favoring the allowance of burials in line with the guidelines outlined by the World Health Organization. However, an experts' group, whose authority remained in question, prevented the decision from being implemented.

The Foreign Minister's candid remarks shed light on the emotional toll and diplomatic implications caused by the mandatory cremation policy for Muslim COVID-19 victims in Sri Lanka.