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Old 05-21-2009, 10:50 AM   #23 (permalink)
Leto
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The shit went down. As everybody most likely knows, the war is 'over', the LTTE has capitulated, Tamils remain in place in cities around the world (especially in Toronto) protesting the situation. Hopefully the SL government takes as conciliatory an approach as indicated in the accompanying article. Perhaps international oversight is required, which seems to be why India has a role, althought the Tamils are still chagrined that the Indians took the government side back in the early '90's - which resulted in the suicide bombing & death of Rajiv Gandhi.

TheStar.com | World | Sri Lanka to send Tamil refugees home

Sri Lanka to send Tamil refugees home

REUTERS
Tanks are parked near the site where the Sri Lankan army celebrated its victory, in what was formerly the "no-fire zone" near the town of Mullaittivu. (May 20, 2009)




As Sri Lankans celebrated a national holiday yesterday to mark the long-awaited victory over the Tamil Tigers, the International Committee of the Red Cross complained the central government has stopped it from sending aid to refugee camps.President calls for magnanimity in victory as Indian officials arrive to negotiate civil war's aftermath



COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka said today it planned to return most of the nearly 300,000 civilians displaced by civil war to their homes this year as the president called on the country to be magnanimous in victory.

The fate of the ethnic Tamil civilians in the crowded, fenced-in camps has caused great concern among the minority throughout the country. Aid groups say their access to the camps has been greatly restricted and human rights groups accuse Tamil militias of abducting children there.

Two senior Indian envoys met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa today to express their concerns about the humanitarian situation in the area.

In a joint statement, both governments said they had agreed on the urgent need to resettle the civilians in their villages in the north as soon as possible.

"The government of Sri Lanka indicated that it was their intention to dismantle the relief camps at the earliest and outlined a 180-day plan to re-settle the bulk of (displaced) to their original places of habitation," said the statement from the president's meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan.

India promised help with demining the former war zone and rebuilding homes and infrastructure, said the joint statement.

An estimated 280,000 civilians were displaced in the recent government offensive that routed the Tamil Tiger rebels on the battlefields of the north and quashed their more than quarter-century war for a separate state.

The United Nations estimates at least 7,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final offensive this year and between 80,000 and 100,000 people were killed throughout the war.

With the conventional war over and the rebels' leadership slain, many Sri Lankans have spent days celebrating, especially in neighbourhoods dominated the Sinhalese majority. Many among the Tamil minority worried that the security crackdowns they faced during the war could worsen.

Rajapaksa called today for Sri Lankans to set aside their differences and make sure not to offend one another.

"The celebration of this victory, as deep as it is felt, should be expressed with magnanimity and friendship towards all," he said in a statement.

Rajapaksa has called in the past for a political compromise with the Tamil community, which has long felt marginalized by the Sinhalese. However, it is not clear what sort of power-sharing deal he is willing to offer.

Meanwhile, aid groups and the UN have complained that their access to the camps has been severely restricted, and the Red Cross has said aid shipments to the largest camp have been stopped.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is expected to take up the issue when he travels here Friday.

The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, an umbrella organization of international human rights groups, said it had verified reports that children as young as 12 were abducted from the camps and the nearby town of Vavuniya.

"(Some) have been taken away for ransom and their release has been subsequently negotiated by the parents, either by offering jewelry or cash," said Charu Hogg, Asia manager for the coalition. Others have been abducted by paramilitaries and taken to Sri Lankan army camps, presumably for questioning over ties to the rebel group, which frequently recruited child soldiers, she said.

The coalition, which includes Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, said Tamil paramilitary groups, which emerged from the rebel movement in the 1980s and aligned themselves with the army, appear to have unhindered access to the camp despite the presence of the military.

The military denied the accusation.
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