Tamil war widows still struggle in Sri Lanka
Tens of thousands of Tamil war widows in the North-East are still struggling to make ends meet, almost six years since the end of the armed conflict on the island, reports IRIN news.
“It has been hard, very hard,” said 39 year old widow Yogeshwari Ramalingam from Mullaitivu. “I thought the war was the nightmare. Peace has been equally scary.”
Roopavathi Ketheeswaran, a public official in Kilinochchi told IRIN news that the issue of war widows “has remained a huge problem since the end of the war”, with reports of up to 89,000 widows across the North-East.
Though the Sri Lankan government has set up a centre to “to look after the needs” of widows, the issues if insecurity and unemployment still trouble the region.
Female unemployment rates remain markedly higher in the North than in the rest of the island, reaching 10.9 percent in Jaffna, 29.4 percent in Kilinochchi, 21.6 percent in Mannar, 20.5 percent in Mullaitivu and 9.0 percent in Vavuniya.
“It has been hard, very hard,” said 39 year old widow Yogeshwari Ramalingam from Mullaitivu. “I thought the war was the nightmare. Peace has been equally scary.”
Roopavathi Ketheeswaran, a public official in Kilinochchi told IRIN news that the issue of war widows “has remained a huge problem since the end of the war”, with reports of up to 89,000 widows across the North-East.
Though the Sri Lankan government has set up a centre to “to look after the needs” of widows, the issues if insecurity and unemployment still trouble the region.
Female unemployment rates remain markedly higher in the North than in the rest of the island, reaching 10.9 percent in Jaffna, 29.4 percent in Kilinochchi, 21.6 percent in Mannar, 20.5 percent in Mullaitivu and 9.0 percent in Vavuniya.
