 Photograph: Tamil Guardian |
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations stressed the importance of demilitarisation in the North, in a meeting with Sri Lanka’s Governor of Northern Province. H. M. G. S. Palihakkara today.
Ms Power tweeted that the two “agreed development, demilitarization in Jaffna cannot wait,” in a meeting during her visit to the North.
|
Her comments come following the Sri Lankan military organising the hosting of a Buddhist religious festival in Jaffna last week, with Sinhalese villagers form the south of the island attending proceedings.
A report released by the Oakland Institute earlier this year, The Long Shadow of War: Struggle for Justice in Post War Sri Lanka, highlighted that at least 160,000 military Sinhalese soldiers remained in the Tamil North-East of Sri Lanka, with the military involved in processes that seized land from local populations and “systematically” suppressed Tamil culture and history.