tamil refugees | Kaleidoscope

NOW WHAT??

sri_lanka_0425 THE SITUATION AFTER THE FALL OF LTTE:

They form the single biggest mass of refugees in the world today. Stuck between two political giants and their allies, they face an uncertain future,. These people do not have an identity or a homeland to call their own. Around 300,000 Tamils were displaced as a result of the civil war between the Sri Lankan army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which ended in a complete rout for the latter. Six months after the end of the war, nearly 300,000 ethnic Tamils are held in military-run camps in Sri Lanka where their movements are restricted and impending monsoon rains could create health crises.

The death of Prabhakaran, supreme commander of the LTTE, has led to celebrations throughout Sri Lanka over the end of a 25-year war that has claimed a large number of innocent lives, Tamil and Sinhalese. The international community has expressed concern over the condition of refugees held in Sri Lanka. The United States has called on the Sri Lankan government to allow Tamil refugees displaced by recent hostilities to move about freely in the country. New York-based Human Rights Watch has urged international leaders to raise the issue with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake when he participates in forthcoming sessions of the UN General Assembly.

Assistant US Secretary of State Robert Blake, who is focussed on US relations with central and southern Asia, said, “While the Sri Lankan government has made some progress easing camp congestion, registering IDPs, and expanding access by humanitarian organizations, much remains to be done.”

In order to reach a lasting peace, the Sri Lankan government must promote justice and political reconciliation for all parties and dialogue with all parties, including Tamils inside and outside Sri Lanka, on new mechanisms for devolving power.

The Sri Lankan government, widely criticized for holding refugees indefinitely, insists that it needs time to weed out LTTE fighters hiding among the displaced civilians.

Around 12.6 percent of the island’s 20 million inhabitants are of Tamil descent.

The United Nations has estimated that up to 7,000 civilians may have perished in the first few months of this year when government troops escalated their offensive against the remnants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Sri Lanka has assured a team of 10 MPs from Tamil Nadu that 58,000 Sri Lankan Tamils currently staying in fenced-off camps will be taken back to their homes from October 15^th, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said.

According to ‘Lankaweb’, the Sri Lankan government claims that 45000 Tamils have been sent to their homes after demining Mannar and Jafna Districts and after having their houses rebuilt or renovated and approved for habitation. Another 15,900 over-65 seniors and pregnant mothers have been re-united with their families as per their wishes; and the elderly, who had no family to go to, have been assigned to institutional care. A batch of 144 Tamil Tiger child soldiers were rehabilitated at the Punthottam Child Protection and Rehabilitation Center in Vavuniya and admitted to a leading school in the capital Colombo on October 21, to pursue their education and start a new life as ordinary children.

While different sources offer various versions of the displacement programme, it is vital to understand that the people sandwiched in between these ‘talks’ are the innocent Tamil refugees who do not have a voice to express their fear or defamed status. Hopefully, pressure from the international community and superpowers will pave the way for Sri Lankan and Indian governments respond to the dire situation of these innocent Tamils and provide them with an identity which is their due.