The Guardian, UK : London’s Tamil protests, one year on
As Sri Lankans vote in parliamentary elections, London Tamils and their supporters remember their 72 day Parliament Square protest against the bloody Sri Lankan advance that eventually defeated the Tamil Tigers
Why don’t you tell that to the 7000 civilians massacred in the final stages of the war last year and to the 70,000 Tamils locked up in camps and IDPs who have been “re-settled” with no homes, no income and little prospect? Does that sound like “freedom” and and a worthwhile “experience” anyone would want?!
The Australian – Beware of asylum-seekers bearing tales of woe
by Sergei DeSilva-Ranasinghe
AS arrivals of Sri Lankans in Australia claiming asylum continue, there is ample evidence to suggest the situation in Sri Lanka is very different from that portrayed by refugee advocates. Indeed, there is strong evidence that since the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in May 2009 Sri Lanka has moved towards stability and inter-ethnic reconciliation, rather than widespread or institutionalised persecution of its Tamil population.
Sri Lanka’s steady return to post-conflict normalcy has been widely reported internationally. Key benchmarks include
► The restitution of freedom of movement for all internally displaced persons.
► The resettlement of 193,607 IDPs throughout northern Sri Lanka (leaving only 76,205 IDPs yet to be resettled).
Read more so-called “facts” here
Please write your response to letters@theaustralian.com.au
AlJazeera – Sri Lanka refugees living in limbo
As Sri Lanka prepares for its first presidential election since the end of the civil war, around 100,000 ethnic Tamils are still being held in refugee camps in the north of the country.
The incumbent president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is expected to face a strong challenge from the retired army general, Sarath Fonseka.
One of the big election issues has been the treatment of the minority Tamils, after thousands died in the final stages of the war.
Wayne Hay was granted a rare opportunity to travel to the former battleground, to see how the Tamils are coping in peace time.
Sri Lanka Guardian (22/01) – ‘Commissions for Human Rights violations have failed’
Marwaan Macan-Markar interviews KISHALI PINTO-JAYAWARDENA, Sri Lankan human rights advocate
Sri Lanka’s nearly three decades of civil war may be over, but questions about war crimes and gross human rights violations committed during the final stages of that battle in 2009 continue to haunt the South Asian nation.
Yet a commission of inquiry to examine such allegations is not the answer, says Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena, a lawyer and human rights advocate. “Commissions of inquiry have been very counter-productive for victims seeking justice,” she says.
Such commissions have largely served the interests of governments to take cover behind international and domestic criticisms of flagrant human rights violations, adds the 42-year-old who authored a report, ‘Post-War Justice in Sri Lanka: Rule of Law, the Criminal Justice System and Commissions of Inquiry’, released this week by the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists (ICJ).
The Sri Lankan conflict involving the secessionist Tamil Tigers saw over 70,000 people killed. The United Nations estimates that 7,000 civilians died during the final months of the battle, which ended in May last year. More
The Guardian (21/01) – Uncovering Sri Lanka’s war crimes
by Peter Bouckaert
Despite promises to the UN, the Sri Lankan government has yet to investigate the serious crimes of Sri Lanka’s civil war
Despite verbal acrobatics reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984, Sri Lankan officials have been unable to dismiss a shocking mobile phone video from last January purportedly showing Sri Lankan soldiers summarily executing naked and bound captives. The government has consistently claimed the video is fake, without providing any evidence that the gruesome scene was staged or the footage tampered with.
Now, the top United Nations envoy responsible for investigating extralegal executions around the world has added his voice to those believing the tape to be genuine. After commissioning three experts on forensic pathology, video analysis and firearms to review the tape, the envoy, Philip Alston, told the BBC, “You cannot fake the precise sort of reaction which the human body makes when shot at close range by such a weapon.”
Of course Sri Lanka’s public relations team went into its usual overdrive, denouncing the “bias” of the UN expert and suggesting that he was on a “personal crusade” to force a war crimes investigation over the allegations. More
The Washington Post (19/01) - War refugees struggle to rebuild in Sri Lanka
by Krishan Francis
The Associated Press
The vast rice fields of Kilinochchi are overgrown with shrubs. The herds of cattle and goats have disappeared. The tractors and motorcycles are gone. Buildings and homes have been bombed into heaps of concrete rubble.
War refugees have found little left of their old lives as they trickle back to their villages in the former Tamil Tiger stronghold eight months after Sri Lankan forces crushed the rebel group.
“We are happy to be back but confused about what to do next,” Subramanium Muthurasu, 66, said. “We have to start farming, but we don’t have the resources. We stand empty-handed.”
Muthurasu, who once grew rice and tended cattle in the village of Karaichchi, is desperate to find a way to make money now that he has the extra responsibility of taking care of his daughter, widowed by the war, and her five children.
The government says the returnees are getting food rations and money to help them out, but conceded it was not enough. More
Groundviews – Paying global media for local elections
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AM - New deal offered to Oceanic Viking’s Sri Lankans
The Australian - Australia makes new offer to boatpeople
Brisbane Times – Sri Lankan solution will not deter people smugglers
The extremely generous deal being offered to the Sri Lankans on board the Oceanic Viking highlights just what a farcical political pantomime the 3½-week saga has become.
Bluntly put, this is a far better outcome for the 78 asylum-seekers than if they had got their first wish, to be taken to Christmas Island for processing by Australia and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Many will be resettled in as little as four weeks, while the longest they will have to wait is 12 weeks.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s desperation to save face and not have the Oceanic Viking steaming into Christmas Island’s port has seen him go the whole nine yards, and some more besides, in a transparent attempt to save his political hide.
This deal is certainly humane – but it will do nothing to deter human trafficking syndicates, or people making the dangerous voyage to Australian waters in often unseaworthy vessels. More
News.com.au – Refugee intake not being revised – Smith
The Australian – Boatpeople seek talks on future
The Australian – Coalition increases border policy attack
The Sydney Morning Herald – Closing the sea route the only way to stem refugee tide
The Age – Asylum seekers ‘beaten’ in Indonesia
