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Concern mounts over treatment of Tamils uprooted by Sri Lanka war
Written by: Megan Rowling
Ethnic Tamil civilians wait to go to a camp for displaced people after being checked by the military in Vishvamadu, a town recently captured by soldiers battling to crush the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Feb. 7, 2009.
REUTERS/Stringer
REUTERS/Stringer
Aid agencies are trying to secure an agreement to evacuate some 200,000 civilians trapped in Sri Lanka's war zone, but there are growing fears about how ethnic Tamils will be treated by the authorities if they are able to leave. The government plans to open five "welfare villages" in Vavuniya and Mannar districts to house Tamils who do manage to flee, the London Times reports. The government says the camps will have schools, parks, banks and vocational centres but has also decreed that displaced Tamils will have to live there until the army has screened them and finished hunting down rebels, according to the newspaper. The government says it's working closely with U.N. agencies to assess more accurately the needs of civilians trapped by the fighting in the northeast, as well as measures to protect them. Conditions inside the shrinking patch of jungle controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels are reported to be dire and very little aid is getting in. Civilians wounded in the fighting have almost no access to medical facilities, and despite a "safe zone" established by the government, "any areas of relative safety have all but disappeared", according to CARE International. Amnesty International accuses the separatist LTTE guerrillas of preventing people from leaving and of recruiting civilians, including children, to serve as troops and build bunkers. A statement from the foreign affairs ministry made quite clear the government is irritated by what some aid groups have said publicly about the conflict, warning them to be "mindful of the responsibility cast on them in disseminating information to the world at large". In recent days, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been subject to growing pressure from politicians and pro-government activists to quit the country, and stones were thrown at its offices in Colombo during a 200-strong protest. The Red Cross has issued regular statements about the shelling of civilians and a hospital in the war zone and the difficulties it has experienced in evacuating the injured. "The most important issue right now is to focus on immediate unimpeded humanitarian assistance for those families trapped between the conflicting parties," said Yolanda Foster, Sri Lanka researcher for Amnesty. "The government wants international assistance but not international standards." LIMITED FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT Amnesty has called on Colombo to ensure that people who've fled the war zone are kept safe and don't face "improper restrictions" on their movement, which would violate U.N. guidelines. The human rights organisation says 6,000 people who have left the Vanni region for government-controlled areas since December are being held in "de facto detention centres and are vulnerable to abuses by government forces". According to Amnesty, the army has not allowed freedom of movement for civilians displaced from Tiger-held areas earlier last year, who are being held in welfare villages. It says some have been permitted to leave the camps for education, medical treatment or to earn money, but have been forced to keep one family member inside as a safeguard against them escaping. Except for the ICRC and U.N. refugee agency, aid groups have not been given access to the centres, Amnesty says. And it warns civilians in transit centres have credible fears that they are at risk of enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, harassment or even extrajudicial executions. The Times reports that following initial screening, those with relatives inside will be able to leave the new camps - which will be ringed with barbed wire - except for young and/or single people. The paper says the government's original plan was to hold displaced Tamils in the centres for up to three years, but after protests from the U.N. refugee agency, it is now hoping to resettle 80 percent by the end of the year. It adds that Sri Lankan and Indian Tamil parliamentarians have urged international donors not to give money for the camps unless they can be properly monitored and international journalists get access. APPEAL FOR $156 MILLION Meanwhile, aid agencies are gearing up for an outpouring of civilians from the conflict zone if and when they are able to leave. A joint action plan released this week warns that movement of people out of the Vanni region is expected to increase dramatically. It says the government and its humanitarian partners are preparing to assist up to 200,000 people. The group of 42 agencies has requested funding of $155.5 million for 103 projects to meet the humanitarian needs of the displaced and host communities. Altogether, aid agencies think they may have to help 433,000 people whose lives have been ripped apart by the conflict. The largest chunk of the money is intended for food aid ($60 million), followed by shelter and camp management ($23 million) and work to protect civilians, their human rights and the rule of law ($17 million). Some aid agencies, including ActionAid, are also providing educational support to children whose schooling has been interrupted by fighting and training volunteers to help people deal with psychological stress.
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9 responses to “Concern mounts over treatment of Tamils uprooted by Sri Lanka war”
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14 Feb 2009 09:56:29 GMT
I beg the International Media orgs to report the Truth please. and not become a mouth piece of the Sinhala-Sri Lanka State. THAMIL EELAM is the name of Tamil���s traditional homeland/territory in (what is now known as) Sri Lanka
http://www.TamilNet.com -> reliable, true News http://www.tamilnation.org -> Truth/Facts about Tamils14 Feb 2009 09:57:40 GMT
This has the potential of becoming the 21st centuries Holocaust.
14 Feb 2009 10:10:02 GMT
every man should see....
http://www.tamilskynews.com/15 Feb 2009 00:49:22 GMT
Hope the international aid agencies will take enough precaution not in supporting another holocaust camps in the history for thousands of IDP of Tamil civilians returning from Wanni in Northern Srilanka. Many of these civilians are poor cultivators and fishermen who had nothing to do in the deadly ethnic conflict which taking place in the last thirty years in Srilanka. They all moved to live in LTTE controlled area for the simple reason the freedom enjoyed in theirs cultivation and fishing activities and that is why cultivation of paddy and vegetable enjoyed a boom in those areas during the ceasefire period. Whereas in the govt control areas in north and east fishing and cultivation came under restricted hours and people are suffering due to loss of jobs. This unfortunate people will be forced into these camps coming under the purview of Srilanka army and its armed groups like what happen in east during last two years. Children of! school going age will be forced to join armed groups supporting the govt and civilians will loose all freedom and their right to go back to their places. The right thing for the international agencies is to help and encourage IDPs to go back to their own place settle dawn and start doing their cultivation and fishing activities. If any financial support is given by any international agencies of other foreign govts to put up and maintain these special camps for the wanni IDPs it will only amounts to supporting an ethnic cleansing of Tamils by the Sinhalese only armed forces. Already over thousands of innocent civilians are killed in Wanni and over thousands of badly injured civilians mainly children women and elderly are ferried by IRC to govt hospitals. We hope the international society will intervene at least now to bring peace and an amicable political settlement for this long deadly ethnic conflict in Srilanka soon.
16 Feb 2009 08:25:33 GMT
How long IC is going to allow SL to do whaterver they wish to the innocent tamils babies children women aged and even already wounded.Eventhough Tamils voiced for along time of their grievances IC and ghandi india did not hear them.Now mahintha company is given open licence to wipe out tamil race from SL.Everybody is looking at what was done by ltte,but nobody is realising why these happend and what SL army has been doing...Sinhalese are allowed to realise their longstanding ambition of making SL a full sinhala nation.
16 Feb 2009 15:19:14 GMT
This is truly genocide. International bodies should monitor those leaving the conflict zone not subject them to atrocities like gang rape etc which we are hearing about. If there are tamils in Sri Lanka why is the army 100% sinhalese? This should open the eyes of foreign goverments who are given false propoganda by the govt. If they are so honest why is there no journalists allowed to see for themselves.
18 Feb 2009 16:11:15 GMT
We Tamils are totally disappointed by the International medias & governments.Sometimes back Srilankan government warned some international news stations. After that we can't see any true news about Srilanka. If there is a news from Srilanka which is against LTTE only they are publishing. Why is this? Everyone know what is really happening in Srilanka? But noone is taking action against Srilankan government instead they are provisding more arms to them. Why does the International want to kill the Tamil community? If so I am begging them to just throw one attom bomb and kill the full Tamil community. Its good. We can't see the deaths of the innocent people everyday and just wait.
19 Feb 2009 12:03:58 GMT
I am not a Tamil nor a Singhalese. I am deeply troubled with all that is happening right now in Sri Lanka. Just reading the news and seeing dead bodies lying around, famished people left unattended etc. This is a conspicuous ground of inhuman treatment of the civilians. IT IS REVOLTING to know that the international organizations don't do anything to help or at least make an effort to exert themselves that these poor people badly need help down there. What is really the root cause of all these? Shouldn't these people just compromise for the sake of those greaty affected? And this is high time for humanitarian organizations to act and reach out to those civilians trapped in the war. We woudn't want to have the same situation as with Rwanda before, right? It will take a long time before every single person who experienced brutality can move on and those vastly affected will forever be traumatized.
20 Feb 2009 10:28:49 GMT
The truth of the matter is 50000 innocent civillians will die ,another 25000 will have some sort of disablity,another 10000 will have severe form of mental illness another 5000 will have mega mental illness,I do not think international community fully understand the situation and keep a blind eye and for the sake of saying something they do say some thing it does not mean any thing,Not to expect any wonders from international community,The truth of the matter only God can help lankan tamil