Posts Tagged ‘LTTE’
The Brewing Humanitarian Crisis In Sri Lanka
This is the video shot by Channel Four News from the United Kingdom that apparently warranted their expulsion from Sri Lanka. They talked about children being separated from their families, reported sexual abuse, food and fresh water shortages among other challenges. Watch the interviews they took with individuals within the camp. Listen to their stories. Then watch the government’s response and wonder how dangerous this situation is moving forward.
The Tamil people of Sri Lanka have been undeniably been subjected to a whole host of human rights abuses at the hands of their government. Having innocent civilians imprisoned in camps like these is an extremely dangerous situation and risks the lives of everyone who is imprisoned.
My concern for innocent civilians stuck in the war zone has seen me accused by Sinhalese persons of being a ‘terrorist sympathizer’. What has become clear to me, in reading the responses I’ve received from pro-Sinhalese folks is that there is a huge issue in separating the condition and treatment of the Tamil people, from that of the LTTE. It seems concern about humanitarian disaster, and possible genocide against Tamil civilians, at least to them is the same as supporting or sympathizing with the LTTE. If this is the mind set, and the government supporters are unable to separate the plight of the people from the LTTE and recognize that those are two very different issues as I have, how can any responsible person believe that these civilians are safe under these conditions?
The BBC, New York Times, CNN and other very legitimate media sources are being denied access to the war zone and the vulnerable populations in these camps, and the world is left to rely on the word of the Sri Lankan Government. This is a government that attacks virtually all international media sources, claims that they’re all in bed with the LTTE, refers to Human Rights Watch, a respected Human Rights organization ‘War on Sri Lanka’.
I think all Canadians need to recognize that there is a humanitarian crisis impacting hundreds of thousands of people who have had nothing to do with the conflict and whose lives are now at grave risk. We need to understand you can be sympathetic and concerned about the lives of Tamil people without being supportive of the LTTE or terrorism. We can’t allow internment camps to house an ethnic minority group for a period of up to three years, especially after what has been such a long and divisive civil war. Especially without journalists, and international aid workers and peacekeepers present to ensure their safety.
Sinhalese people in Colombo or anywhere else in the world can continue to call me whatever they’d like, but the fact remains, the situation on the ground in Sri Lanka has all the ingredients for disaster, and it is incumbent on the international community to ensure civilians are protected from violence, mass killings and the other realities that the world has come to know happen when folks are singled out by ethnicity and interned in camps.
We have to recognize internment camps have absolutely nothing to do with the LTTE whatsoever and that this is a decision the Sri Lankan government has made on it’s own. Government’s need to be held to a higher standard. It’s easier for the world to step in right now to address the humanitarian issues, than it will be later on.
Let’s get this right for once as an international community, and step in and solve a problem before it gets anymore out of hand.
4 Comments »The World Needs to Tell Sri Lanka 'No Internment Camps'
I have great difficulty understanding why in 2009 anyone could think this kind of treatment of an ethnic minority is OK? Wasn’t the lesson we were supposed to take from past atrocities of ethnic minorities ‘never again’? Didn’t the world dedicate itself to the protection of civilians in times of war, and from government sanctioned violence and despair? Hasn’t that pledge been made again and again?
How is it we can allow a government that has been accused by Human Rights Watch of ‘disappearing’ (read: carrying out mass murders) of 18 000 Tamil civilians to block UN, Red Cross, NGO and media access to some 300 000 internally displaced people they have decided to intern in concentration camps. There have been numerous reports of parents being separated from children, rapes, and chronic shortages of the most basic necessities to sustain human life. They are refusing aid for those they’ve interned. They are not protecting the lives of their captives.
The 300 000 Tamils the Sri Lankan government has interned in these camps have lost virtually all of their rights and their basic dignity is under constant attack daily. They are not free to leave and return home. Stuck behind barbed wire fences, guarded by machine gun wielding soldiers, they’ve lost any rights one would expect citizens to have in a country with any claim to be free or democratic.
Such treatment makes reconciliation impossible, and is bound to lead to massive loss of human life, through either deliberate genocidal acts or humanitarian crisis brought about through irresponsible government action. That is bound to lead to more violence.
Below is yet another video, from yet another news organization about the plight of Tamils in these government run concentration camps.
It’s 2009. We’ve seen this show before. Never have concentration camps been used for good. Never has an ethnic minority group been well served by being detained without rights, media access or the basic necessities to sustain life. We know the outcome of these situations. We need to stop this one before it gets any worse.
The international community needs to give Sri Lanka a final warning. Tell the Sri Lankan government to open up, let the UN in, allow the Red Cross and NGOs to save lives, and the media to tell the story and be there to witness the treatment of these civilians. Should they choose not to once again, then it is incumbent on the United Nations to invoke ‘right to protect’ and step in – against the government’s will and protect the lives of these 300 000 civilians.
1 Comment »My Heartfelt Thanks To You
I wanted to send a heartfelt thanks to those who have written me since I posted My Support of the Tamil Community in Canada – Explained.
In post I had written about a poorly made government decision in October 2008, that I believed put the life of a prominent anti-war politician in Sri Lanka at risk by publicly suggesting he was both supportive of, and possibly even a member of the LTTE, I wrote:
‘Even writing about Sri Lanka is uncomfortable for me because I am well aware of how having an opinion that is not supportive of the Government of Sri Lanka’s military efforts against it’s own people can and almost always is equated to supporting the violent actions of the LTTE and by bringing up Sri Lanka at all, one is forced to explain their views clearly and precisely to ensure they are not misrepresented.’ grindstone road divx movie online Terrorist By Assumption – Conservative Government Policy - October 7th 2008
Throughout my involvement in politics, I’ve never been comfortable sitting quietly and letting something I’ve felt is wrong go by unchallenged. When one recognizes their view isn’t necessarily the popular opinion on an issue, it is often more of a challenge to speak out. One can be ‘thick skinned’ or ‘tough’ but still needs to know they’ll be able to withstand the blows that will certainly come their way. That being said, it is a heck of a lot easier to stand up with strength and courage when you know there are others who are supportive of what you’re doing.
The dozens of messages I’ve received through email and comments on my blog have been a re-affirmation of the decent, caring, Tamil community in Canada I know. The mix of kind words, and personal stories has touched me, and allowed me to further try to understand how painful it must be knowing about the atrocities going on in Sri Lanka and seeing them unreported in the media.
Hearing stories of lost loved ones, carnage and destruction, of food shortages and fear; it’s clear to me why the community is exercising it’s democratic rights in Canada with such vigour. It’s clear why there is such urgency in the voices and on the faces of demonstrators. It’s clear why so many Tamils have put their daily lives on hold to struggle to be the voice of the unheard victims back home. You feel a sense of obligation to do so, and all Canadians and our government have an obligation to listen.
Your words further hit home how wrong those who think Tamils want to see more bloodshed are. It’s clear to me, Tamils want to be safe from violence, have access to the basic necessities of life, have their human rights protected, and the political rights all the world’s minority populations are guaranteed by the United Nations to self determination.
Canadians must see that the Tamil community is giving us the opportunity to live up to our international reputation. The challenges in Sri Lanka give Canada the opportunity to lead again on the international stage. It allows us to stand up for values and morals we hold dear and believe to be inalienable, not just at home, but abroad as well. It’s my hope we seize that opportunity and begin to pressure the Sri Lankan government to recognize that peace won’t come militarily, but only through a recognition of the rights of Tamils to self determination and setting up a fair and open process to that end. If the government of Sri Lanka wants unity, it can’t win that in war, it must earn it through it’s actions. If the Tamils want independence they too need a non military process to realize that goal.
There is hope that the community may finally see some action. The Gardiner Expressway closure was controversial, but effective. It doesn’t need to happen again, but it worked. Daily protests for weeks were ignored, hunger strikes not reported, but each day since the Gardiner closure, the plight of innocent Tamil civilians has been on the front page of the daily newspapers. The Gardiner being closed for five hours was covered by international media, and helped wake many Canadians up to what’s going on in Sri Lanka.
I am proud to stand with Tamil Canadians, who are peacefully calling for an end to violence in Sri Lanka, who are calling for a recognition of their internationally accepted human rights. It is my hope that the Sri Lankan government will bow to pressure soon, and recognize that they must be held to a higher standard then this. The LTTE has already said it is prepared to enter into a ceasefire. The Sri Lankan government should take them up on that and end the violence. The actions of the Tamil diaspora around the world have gained recognition of the issue. It’s seen President Obama call for an end to the violence in Sri Lanka yesterday and the United Nations get more and more aggressive in their diplomatic efforts.
Thank you again for your kind messages. With the support I’ve been receiving, it is easy to speak out. If you wrote me and have yet to receive a response to your message, I assure you it’s coming soon.
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