before i start, i just wanted to say "we" bare you no ill will and, as i've told Leah many, many times, if those who have governed Sri Lanka since independence were persons such as yourselves there would not be any war... i have met you all and you are all lovely, intelligent, honest, caring, loving persons, who if that beautiful island is to ever see peace (as one state or two states) MUST raise your voice - not just in the humanitarian sector but in the human rights and political spheres (Neela aunty will you please run for office and take over the UNP - ranil is not much of a leader - you on the other hand have the carisma, intelligence and managerial skills for the job).
I'm really interested in this "debate" and wish i had more time to respond and engage in detail with all of you (that is the only way to an enduring peace isn't it), but... as you might expect we are rather busy... and so i leave you with this:
I skimmed through the contributions from all of you and one thing that struck me was Leah's statement that (and i'm paraphrasing here so forgive me) "we" were against the good Sri Lankan's (Sinhala, Muslim, Bugher, & Tamil) helping, sending aid, or otherwise assisting the IDPs in Govt controlled areas - i wish to CATEGORICALLY state that "we" do not have ANY problem with the great efforts you all are engaged in. "We" encourage them and infact in my meetings in Geneva with Ms. Pillay (11 March) and others while at the UN Human Rights Council (http://www.lankaenews.com/
At the meeting with Ms. Pillay (which the Sinhala journalist Ravi leaked to the media) there were persons from the 3 communities (sorry no Burghers, but then i didn't call the meeting and so it wasn't my fault) representing a variety of Sri Lanka based NGOs and what was really lovely was that we were all saying the same thing vis a vis the humanitarian and human rights abusesbeing committed by the GoSL.
but... (there had to be a "but" didn't there)
A couple questions / thoughts / points:
1) why isn't the GoSL helping these people - at my meetings with the UN, ICRC etc in Geneva they stated that there was plenty of humanitarian aid in Colombo & the South but the GoSL didn't seem interested in putting it to use & in the case of the 'safe zone' continued to refuse permission for the ICRC to transport adequate amounts. Why isn't SL Civil Society make more noise about this?
2) This ship and the event yesterday are focused on assisting the people in the 'safe zone' because no one else (other than ICRC) seem able or willing to assist them. And so we have taken the task - so please do lobby for the GoSL not to sink us (i'll be on it).
3) Leah also asked (in a private email or in this 'discussion') why "we" weren't assisting the IDPs in GoSL controlled areas. The fact of the matter is that we are. Over the past 1 month the Tamil Diaspora (this is only the orgs that i know of NOT the individuals who have also contributed which would result in a much larger figure) have sent over US$600,000 to organizations working in the concentration camps. (sorry can't tell you the names - indi will post them on his blog and then they'd be chucked outta the country)
4) Over the past 3 years ANY funds sent from a diaspora organization with "Tamil" in the name have been frozen (added to the war budget?) by the GoSL - (i can provide evidence) this has included funds that were sent from organizations with names like "The xxx Tamil Hindu Society" to Sinhala & Muslim NGOs working in the East and in the GoSL controlled North. So you see, while it might not appear to be the case, "we" are trying to help people in all parts of the county. After the tsunami TRO built wells, houses, toilets, and preschools for tsunami affected MUSLIM & SINHALA villages in the East and a Sinhala village near Matara (can't tell you the name - don't want them to burned out of their homes) and we had numerous post-CFA projects in the upcountry. There weren't any headlines about those projects in the Colombo papers.
5) Where were you guys over the past couple of years? Were you sending humanitarian assistance to the LTTE administered Vanni? I hope you were and it was not just now that your consciences were pricked.
6) Why was Sri Lanka "Civil Society" so quiet when the UN & iNGOs were ordered out of the Vanni in Sept 2008 or the media stopped from travelling there in Jan 2007? The LTTE has always welcomed them... If you're going to speak up for the suffering of the people in the concentration camps then what about other instances of suffering and/or the conditions that create them? Any why don't these people have the freedom of movement to go where they please? I have some relatives in one of the concentration camps who were sent there after being evacuated by the ICRC to a hospital treated and discharged - they wanted to go to our relatives house in the "south" or to Jaffna but weren't allowed to. Why?
7) i notice that some of the individuals involved in this org "ACT" (not ACT NOW www.act-now.info - hehehe) were also involved with "Rebuild Sri Lanka" which in the end turned out to be just a land grab in Arugam Bay... i hope their new focus isn't on creating a 5 Star resort in Mullaitivu or the Chundikulam Bird Reserve (which by the way is beautiful, or was... when i was last there - multibarrel rockets tend to disturb bird migratory systems)
anyway, i hadn't intended to go on for so long and "somebody" will be very angry with me for "wasting" all this time... BUT...
i just wanted to reiterate (via cut & past): "we" bare you no ill will and, as i've told Leah many, many times, if those who have governed Sri Lanka since independence were persons such as yourselves there would not be any war... i have met you all (except maybe one or two i was in one of my many "fogs" hahaha) and you are all lovely, intelligent, honest, caring, loving persons, who if that beautiful island is to ever see peace (as one state or two states) MUST raise your voice - not just in the humanitarian sector but in the human rights and political spheres (*name deleted* aunty will you please run for office and take over the UNP - ranil is not much of a leader - you on the other hand have the charisma, intelligence and managerial skills for the job).
respectfully,
AE
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