In a statement released Friday, the Organization of Relatives of Surrendees and the Disappeared (ORSD), called on the British government to take a leading role in preventing the destruction of the Tamil Nation in the North-East.

In a written statement the ORSD Chair Person, Ananthy Sasitharan, also a member of the Northern Provincial Council who received the second highest number of votes, outlined the on-going destruction of the Tamil Nation.

Highlighting that the problems affecting the Tamils in the North-East were not just a lack of ‘accountability and reconciliation’, the statement identified the problem as,

“a program of Sinhalization with intent to destroy the identity of Tamils existing as a distinct nation.”

See full statement here. Extracts from the statement reproduced below:

“Our organization wishes to stress the fact that the violations of Human Rights that our members face should not be seen as mere violations of individual Human Rights, but a far deeper systematic plan that targets the national identity.”

“The Tamil homeland in the North and East of Sri Lanka has been, interalia, despite the UNHRC Resolution of March 2012 and 2013 been subjected to:

1.    The State sponsored Sinhala settlements with the intention of making the Tamil people a minority in their own homeland.
2.    Confiscation of privately owned property of Tamil people.
3.    Military Occupation.
4.    Forcible Sinhala-Bhuddhisation with the intent of changing cultural identity.
5.    The systematic undermining of the indigenous economy of the Tamil people.
6.    The complete absence of the Rule of Law and systematic impunity for offences committed by the Sri Lanka Military (Re sexual violence/abuse of Tamil woman; disappearances; harassments; illegal arrests, torture in custody; the severe harassment of former LTTE members (even those who have gone through a process of GoSL’s own so called rehabilitation; etc.) “

“Political expediency on the part of the UN and the international community in wanting to see the defeat of the LTTE in the Name of eradicating “terrorism” resulted in the Tamil Nation having to pay the ultimate price of a genocidal war. However, four years since the end of the war, the Tamil people continue to face the onslaught in the form of structural genocide of their Nation.”

“Accordingly our organisation reiterates its call to Her Majesty’s Government for an independent and credible international investigation regarding the breach of international law, including the crime of genocide.”

“Our organization calls upon the United Kingdom to take the lead in invoking the doctrine of R2P to the Tamil nation and to set up a transitional administration in the Tamil homeland comprising of the North-East provinces in Sri Lanka, as a matter of urgency. Such a step is vital to not only stop further dismantling of the existence of the Tamil nation, but also to safeguard any future prospects of finding a negotiated solution to the Tamil national question.”