Sri Lanka hastens Tamil camp clearance
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO - Thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils, forced to stay in camps after being
displaced from their homes by fighting between government troops and separatist
rebels, will be returning to their homes in war-torn areas by January, sooner
than expected.
The government on Tuesday said it was speeding ahead to complete the process of
resettling the displaced in two months. The change is being linked to a radical
change in the political firmament.
General Sarath Fonseka, who was widely credited with leading the army to
victory this year over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, is now expected to
run against President Mahinda
Rajapaksa, his commander-in-chief during the conflict. The danger that
challenge poses to the present government is setting the stage for a public
relations onslaught, including settling the displaced in their homes before the
election.
A presidential poll is likely to be held in January followed by a parliamentary
poll. Fonseka, who retired on Monday, has neither denied nor confirmed
widespread reports that he will contest the presidency. This has put the
government on the defensive.
"We were [earlier] told between 60% and 70% of the displaced would be resettled
by January 2010. Now it appears all of them will be out of the camps by
January," noted Firzan Hashim, deputy executive director of the Consortium for
Humanitarian Agencies, an umbrella group of local and foreign humanitarian
non-governmental organizations.
"But while we are happy that they are at last returning ... our fear is they
don't have a livelihood and will be returning to villages where there is a huge
military presence," he said. "This could lead to frustration and all kinds of
problems."
On Tuesday, a group of Tamil parliamentarians who visited camps housing more
than 100,000 displaced people in northern Vavuniya was told by Basil Rajapaksa,
advisor to the president and chair of a Special Task Force spearheading the
reconstruction and rehabilitation on the war-torn northern region, that all the
displaced would be back in their former homes by January.
"He informed us of this decision when we briefed him on our visit to the camps.
We made our observations on the visit," said N Sri Kanthan, parliamentarian
from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which represents the Tamil community in
Sri Lanka.
Kanthan and six of his TNA parliamentary colleagues were permitted to visit the
displaced people on Monday, the first time local parliamentarians were allowed
into the camps, access to which had been severely restricted. Camp residents
are also denied freedom of movement, including coming out of the camps guarded
by the military.
Kanthan said that of the more than 200,000 people who fled fierce battles
between government troops and rebels in the northern region and swarmed into
temporary shelters in March to April this year, 102,000 resident have been
settled, with another 130,000 expected to return to their homes in the next two
months.
"We have requested for a long time to visit these camps, and finally this was
allowed. We were flown to the area in a government helicopter and also visited
resettlement areas. We were impressed and found the military and officials
committed to their task," he told Inter Press Service.
Government soldiers crushed the rebels in May, killing the rebel leader
Velupillai Prabhakaran and his family, and ending a 25-year-long armed revolt
against the state to push for more autonomy for minority Tamils.
Since then, human rights groups and the international community have accused
the government of keeping civilians against their will in camps amidst
difficult conditions. The media continues largely to be shut out of these
camps, with only a few local and foreign journalists given escorted tours.
Sivanathan Kishore, another TNA parliamentarian who visited the camps, said the
situation has improved tremendously from before. "In May, I went alone [because
I live in the same area] into the camps, and conditions were appalling. Now
there is a major change."
TNA parliamentarian Sivashakthi Ananthan said he turned down the invitation to
visit the camps, as it was a conducted tour and not one of free access, as had
been claimed.
"We had informed the military that we would be driving in our own vehicles, but
the government insisted that we go in a government helicopter to the camps. Why
should we go in a government helicopter to visit our own people?" he asked in a
telephone interview.
A Tamil journalist, who declined to be named, labeled Monday's exercise mere
public relations, since it was held a day before the United Nations top
humanitarian official arrived in Colombo on Tuesday. The planned quick release
of the displaced was aimed at soothing the Tamils and winning back their
support ahead of the polls, he said.
John Holmes, the United Nations under-secretary general for humanitarian
affairs and emergency relief coordinator, who has visited Sri Lanka thrice this
year, the last time in May, is due to meet the president and visit the camps
for the displaced.
The UN has repeatedly expressed concern over the continued "detention" of these
residents. The government justified this on two grounds - clearing their former
homes of mines in a huge de-mining operation and ferreting out suspected Tamil
rebel cadres. Nearly 20,000 former rebels have been identified among the
displaced and moved to another detention center and processed for
"rehabilitation".
On Tuesday, UK-based Amnesty International said it had launched a week of
action from Monday, highlighting the continued detention of thousands of
displaced civilians in government camps. In a statement, it said activists in
more than 10 countries would take part in the "Unlock the Camps" campaign.
Events include a "Circle of Hope" in Canada, a street march and signature
campaign in Nepal, a poetry reading in Switzerland and solidarity actions in
France, Germany, Mauritius and the United States.
Jayalath Jayawardene, of the opposition United National Party, downplayed the
attempt to open the camps to parliamentarians. "We have filed an action in the
Supreme Court seeking a declaration that our fundamental rights have been
violated by not allowing us free and unimpeded access to the camps.
"If the government is allowing members of parliament access, then why can't
they come and inform the court?" he asked. "This is just a farce. Furthermore,
they are relaxing these rules now when half the population in the camps have
been returned to their homes. We need free access - not conducted tours."
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