Resettlement of Tamils in Sri Lanka

Rakpakshe government has been trumpeting that they have been Developmental Plans for the Tamils in Sri Lanka for Tamils post LTTE, genocide era.

Sri Lankan Genocide of Tamils — Killing of Tamils,Sri Lanka

Facts seem to indicate other wise.

1.Victors,though this term is an inappropriate term to use for killing your own citizens,this is the term what Rajapakshe government uses,

need to be magnanimous,

Lanka Government has opened up a Museum on the War , insulting the Tamils and is promoting it as a Tourist attraction.(read my post for Details)

Sri Lanka's War Museum.,Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s War Museum.

2.The Government has announced training programmes for The Tamils.

Tamil Girls are molested and Tamil men return with fear truly terrified.

3.Religious Freedom,Attacks on Muslims.

Though the Sri Lanka Government speaks of tolerance; the reality is otherwise.

Muslims were made to go against the Tamils and after the Genocide Muslims have become the target of attacked by the Buddhist extremists.(read my spot )

This is what The Institute on Religious and Public Policy has to say in its 2012 Report.

”

(15) The BBC reported in January 2011 that foreign Muslim preachers in Sri Lanka were ordered to leave the country for violating visa regulations. Sir Lanka’s immigration head Chulanada Perera told AFP news agency, “They have violated immigration laws. A tourist visa is to have a holiday or visit friends and family, and not to preach Islam”.

(16) In September 2011, mobs, allegedly led by Buddhist monks, destroyed a Muslim religious site in the Buddhist city of Anuradhapura.

(17) Public Relations Minister Mervyn Silva, who is a member of the Buddhist majority party, organized and led a protest march in September 2011 to force Hindus to stop the traditional religious ceremony that involves public animal sacrifice. Minister Silva argued that animal sacrifice harms the public image of Sri Lanka. Police reported that they had a court order to halt the animal sacrifice due to requests from activists, and increased the security level in the area because of the unrest.

(18) According to a news report in November 2011, the Ministry of Education did not allow Catholic and Christian students to register for religion exams in English. The Ministry offered examinations only in Sinhala and Tamil. The Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Ranjith appealed to the government in his writing, “the majority of students follow their religion in the “English medium,” and therefore should have the opportunity to do the exam in that language”. However, the Ministry of Education rejected his appeal.”

4. Resettlement of Tamils.

Rather than resettling displaced Tamils, since the war ended, the Sri Lankan armed forces have occupied a further 7,000 sq km of land owned by Tamil people.

So what do the government’s claims of resettlement mean?

“According to the government’s own figures as at 1st July 2011, 258,446 had been ‘returned’ or ‘resettled’ from welfare camps, leaving 12,661 in the Kadirgamar, Anandakumarasawmi (Zone 1), Arunachalam (Zone III) IDP camps. The most current figures suggest that only 7,440 persons remain in these camps, insinuating that all others have been returned or resettled.

“What the statistics do not reveal is that over 200,000 persons in the North and East have not been returned to their places of origin. These persons either continue to be confined in transit camps or have been compelled to take shelter with host families [elsewhere].

“Such persons include those displaced from Valikamam North in the Jaffna Peninsula, Sampur in the Trincomalee District, and several other areas in the Vanni.”

– M.A. Sumanthiran, TNA parliamentarian. See The Hindu’s report here.“

Worse is the government is moving two Sinhalese families for one family of Tamils being resettled in Tamil Areas.

Now in Trincomalee,which used to be a Tamil majority area, Sinhalese are equal to Tamils numerically.

5.Lands of the Tamils have been confiscated , and are either with the Military of handed over to Sinhalese.

6.The Military regime is so tight that even for a family function The Tamils have to get permission from the military, which, usually, is refused.

7.Rape of Tamil Women.

Can rape be far behind when Sri Lanka army is on Duty?

Rapes and killing of Tamil Men are routine.

“( June 06, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)Women and children are at the receiving end of serious crimes due to political interference and the failure of the police to carry out law and order in the country states Socialist Women’s Union (SWU) and pointed out that a woman is raped somewhere in Sri Lanka every 90 minutes.

SWU points out that this state is due to the introduction of the free economy to the country which destroyed human relationships and created a society that decides everything on money. This was stated by the National Organizer of the SWU Samanmalee Gunasinghe at a special media meeting held at the head office of the JVP at Pelawatta today (5th).”(Srilanka Guardian 6 June, 2012)

Tamils raped post War,Genocide.

Report by Human Rights Watch.

Published on Feb 26, 2013

(London, February 26, 2013) — Sri Lankan security forces have been using rape and other forms of sexual violence to torture suspected members or supporters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. While widespread rape in custody occurred during the armed conflict that ended in May 2009, Human Rights Watch found that politically motivated sexual violence by the military and police continues to the present.

The 140-page report, “‘We Will Teach You a Lesson’: Sexual Violence against Tamils by Sri Lankan Security Forces,” provides detailed accounts of 75 cases of alleged rape and sexual abuse that occurred from 2006-2012 in both official and secret detention centers throughout Sri Lanka. In the cases documented by Human Rights Watch, men and women reported being raped on multiple days, often by several people, with the army, police, and pro-government paramilitary groups frequently participating.

This is what Human Rights watch has to say on this subject.

“Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] said [press release] Monday that no progress has been made in Sri Lanka regarding respect for basic rights and liberties in the four years since the end of the country’s brutal 26-year civil war [JURIST backgrounder]. According to HRW, the government of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa [official website] has failed to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes, has cracked down on media and human rights activists, and has continued to abuse suspectedLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) [CFR backgrounder] supporters, despite Rajapaska’s promise to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official profile]. Since 2009, government officials have reportedly threatened members of the media, civil society and the political opposition, and publications have been subject to government censorship, or, in some cases, shut down. HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said:

The Rajapaksa government seems to be hoping that broad-based repression will dampen the exercise of fundamental freedoms. But Sri Lankan activists and journalists who showed incredible resilience during wartime to bring forth the truth, will undoubtedly find a way to do so when the country is at peace.

HRW urged governments to press for an independent international investigation into wartime abuses, speak out against ongoing abuses and provide support for Sri Lankan civil society.

The Sri Lankan government has faced various allegations of human rights violations and war crimes by civil rights organizations and the UN since the end of its civil war in 2009. In March the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution [JURIST report] to promote reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka. In February Sri Lankan authorities were accused of using rape [JURIST report] as a method of interrogating members or supporters of the LTTE. Earlier that same month the UN criticized Sri Lanka for failing to investigate war crimes, and HRW pushed [JURIST reports] for an independent investigation of rights abuses.”

Sources:

SriLanka Guardian,

Jurist.

http://www.religionandpolicy.org/reports/the-institute-country-reports-and-legislative-analysis/south-and-central-asia/sri-lanka/the-institute-2012-report-religious-freedom-in-sri-lanka/

http://jurist.org/paperchase/2013/05/hrw-no-progress-in-sri-lanka-since-civil-war-ended.php