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Dividing Line
Sri Lanka’s embargo embodies ethnic discrimination
As the New Year begins, expectations are high amongst the peoples of Sri Lanka. The unilateral truces being observed separately by the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan military
ensure that - by and large - calm prevails across the front line.
However, the possibility of an inadvertent and serious breach should not be discounted. Cord-on and search operations by the Sri
Lanka Army (SLA) are continuing. The SLA has shot dead a civilian accused of being sympathetic to the LTTE. The uproar caused by a visit to SLA-held Batticaloa by a group of unarmed LTTE cadres was successfully defused by rapid intervention by Tamil and Sinhala leaderships. And amid the tranquillity, it should not be forgotten that both truces expire in three weeks. The need for a stable and longer term ceasefire to continue the de-escalation of the conflict is compelling. News this week that the Liberation Tigers are to work out modalities and mechanisms with the new Sri Lanka government to bring the unilaterally declared cessation of hostilities to a stable cease-fire should therefore be welcomed by all parties concerned.
The dismantling of barricades and checkpoints in Colombo will no doubt instil confidence in the government's desire to end the war. However, the bellicose comments last weekend by Defence Minister Tilak Marapana have rankled Tamil sentiments. At a point when both sides are talking about peaceful resolution of the ethnic conflict, hawkish rhetoric of wiping out the LTTE and "defending the [Sinhala] motherland" have inflamed passions and decidedly undermined the hitherto prevailing sense of goodwill amongst the Tamil community. The Liberation Tigers are said to have expressed - through the Norwegian government - their strong displeasure to the government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. He probably recognises the damage rather narrow-mindedly inflicted on his government's dovish image. Minister Marapana no doubt sought to impress his uniformed audience with his Sinhala nationalist thunder and thereby establish a rapport. But in doing so, he has certainly made an unhelpful impression amongst the Tamil community, if not the Sinhalese given the peace dividend being enjoyed in the south.
Assuming - not unreasonably - that the goodwill for a stable ceasefire exists on both sides of the ethnic divide, the next thorny issue is the lifting of the government's draconian economic embargo on the Tamil areas not controlled by the Sri Lanka Army and the ending of restrictions of movement on large sections of the Tamil community. People living in the 'uncleared areas - and there's a term that sets Tamil teeth on edge - have been denied most of the essentials for life that is readily available to the Sinhala south. Even SLA-controlled regions like Jaffna are subjected to rationing - sometimes with a logic that beggars belief - and blockades.
All hospitals in the north and east are desperately short of medicine, equipment and supplies. Many aspects of ordinary life have ground to a halt for lack of fuel. Along with the blockade on food, the lack of fuel has prevented local agriculture. The ban on fishing has left an enormous number of Tamils destitute. The infrastructure of the north and east is a shambles. The reconstruction of roads, houses, schools and hospitals is a desperate need. Over four hundred thousand people are homeless, housed in ramshackle refugee camps or living rough.
Furthermore, the people of the north and east have endured these hardships for decades - the embargo itself being a legacy of a former United National Party (UNP) government. The alleviation of this suffering will go a considerable way towards instilling confidence in the new government. The steps announced last week by Minister of Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Refugees, Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena to allocate funds to repair the road network in the Vanni are warmly welcomed, particularly in the wake of the devastating floods this week which have made life miserable in parts of the Mullaitivu district.
Indeed, we have often argued before that the government's readiness to end its embargo is a barometer of the level of reconciliatory sentiment in Colombo. In short, if the government genuinely believes its citizens are all equal regardless of ethnicity, then just as there are no restrictions on the Sinhala people, there should be none on the Tamil people.
In an interview to The Hindu newspaper within days of assuming power, Mr. Wickremsinghe declared his government had "already decided to ensure that adequate supply of food and essential items are available in the uncleared areas." This has raised hopes in the Tamil areas that relief is imminent. The foot dragging that seems to have followed has been disappointing and is hopefully illusory: optimism abounds amid reports that a gazette notification is expected from the government on Wednesday - to be implemented by mid-January.
The Sinhala right wing will no doubt raise shrill protests about "feeding terrorists." Mr. Wickremesinghe must ignore these. The Liberation Tigers accept the commonsense truism that military materials are not part of the equation and with Mr. Wickr-emsinghe declaring that his government's blockade "will only be restricted to military items, arms and ammunition," confidence that matters will progress should only be dampened by President Chandrika Kumaratunga's potential for disruption. Mr. Wickremesinghe's government enjoys unparalleled goodwill, latent mistrusts aside. He should not sacrifice it through undue hesitation or errant action.
Self Help
International NGOs continue to fail the Tamils
The Liberation Tigers announced in the Vanni this week that in demining efforts over the past twenty months, they have removed over 132,000 mines and pieces of unexploded ordnance. These littered the ground during and after the Sri Lanka Army's operation in 1997 and 1998 that drove hundreds of thousands of people from their homes - some for the second or even third time. Even after the LTTE swept the SLA from these areas in November 1999, many of the towns and villages have been hitherto remained unusable due to the enormous quantity of mines and explosives scattered in them. That large tracts of territory are again liveable in will come as a welcome relief to the former residents.
However, the difficulties faced by the people in the Vanni, whilst originating from the Sri Lankan government's war against them, have been compounded by the lack of support from the international non-governmental organisation (INGO) community. With one or two notable exceptions like Medecins Sans Frontiers, most INGOs have essentially gone along with the Sri Lankan government's strategy, and limited the effort they put into alleviating suffering in the Tamil areas. That demining in the Vanni has not been aided by the world's erstwhile anti-landmine crusaders speaks volumes. The high profile - an ultimately ineffective - demining efforts in Jaffna undertaken by one UN-affiliated NGO is an example. Whilst the government's political need to show Jaffna was 'returning to normal' required the mine experts' presence, once the charade become redundant, the matter was dropped. People are still triggering mines in the northern town, often left by passing Sri Lanka Army patrols according to civil servants there.
Last week a workshop in Trincomalee titled the 'Childhood Development Project' discussed the difficulties of young children's education in the embattled areas. Most of the children under the age of ten living in welfare centres, slum areas and remote villages in the north and east have been deprived of their pre-school and primary education. A number of INGOs, including the United Nations' Children's fund, UNICEF, whilst maintaining a token - budget-authorising - presence in the Vanni, do not undertake any practical measures. Whilst stoically refusing to visit or support orphanages run by the LTTE or other charities in the region, UNICEF, for example, focuses on the political project of trying to mire the LTTE in the global child soldiers issue - a matter in which UNICEF refuses to be transparent restricting itself to sweeping
generalisations.
INGOs raise funding from international government and individual donors with the deliberately crafted perception is often that of selfless effort and sacrifice for the betterment of unfortunate peoples in the third world. The reality, as far as the Tamils are concerned, for the organistions with presence in the Vanni is that the money goes to plush offices and luxury four wheel drives while the victims are left to fend for themselves.
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