Thousands of university students on Tuesday staged a protest in Colombo, urging the government to bring down the level of unemployment in the island nation.
The protest, led by the Combined Association of Unemployment Graduates, called on the government of President Maithripala Sirisena to provide jobs to graduates, Xinhua reported.
The protestors attempted to march towards Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office in Colombo to hand over a list of demands but were sprayed with tear gas and water canons by riot police.
The protestors later dispersed and began a fast urging the government to fulfill their demands.