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Sri Lanka hits the headlines again
It’s Monday morning, I’m just back from holiday – and sadly some things just seem to show no sign of getting any better.
What am I talking about? Sri Lanka of course.
The humanitarian disaster there has once more brought London’s Tamil community on to the streets, with thousands protesting outside parliament today.
Whether this latest protest will make any difference we will just have to wait and see – but the omens don’t look good.
The Sri Lankan authorities seem increasingly convinced that there isn’t a problem. Indeed they are busy patting themselves on the back about the “transition” camps they have built for the 70,000 or so refugees that have so far fled the tiny parts of the country still held by the Tamil Tigers.
The Government showed off one such camp, Menik Farm, to a select number of journalists this weekend.
Yes it does have running water, a school and even a hospital, but even this, “the best-equipped of the camps” according to aid agencies, was described as a jail by one resident in today’s Guardian. Meanwhile, just a few miles away, The Independent reported from another camp which had a lack of water and sanitation facilities that were “utterly inadequate”.
And remember all of this information comes with a huge caveat – very few journalists are allowed to report from this part of Sri Lanka and some are banned from the country altogether. One such journalist is Jeremy Page from The Times. On Saturday he described his latest failed attempt to get in.
The situation for local journalists is even worse – a problem Amnesty has highlighted time and time again. They face regular intimidation and over the last few years at least a dozen have been killed.
Meanwhile, we here are growing increasingly concerned over the remaining 100,000 civilians trapped between the warring factions. A ceasefire between the two sides expired on Thursday and Amnesty is very worried about their safety.
The Sri Lankan military is accusing the Tigers of using them as human shields. And while reports that 5,000 were freed over the weekend, fears remain.
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15 Comments
terrible that i hear such bad things happening and think i can do nothing to help them except complain.
why does your blog contain a link to the 'Feministing' blog. that blog is obscene.
Dear All,
Amnesty International has started an email campaign to get Australian Foreign Minister to intervene.
Please get friends and family to sign immediatelyl
The mail to sign is at the right of the page.
http://www.amnesty.org.au/action/action/20852/
Thank you. HURRY.
please AI-UK undertake a similar campaign to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth office and EU Human Rights
Dr Shiamala Suntharalingam
Dear All,
Amnesty International has started an email campaign to get Australian Foreign Minister to intervene.
Please get friends and family to sign immediatelyl
The mail to sign is at the right of the page.
http://www.amnesty.org.au/action/action/20852/
Thank you. HURRY.
please AI-UK undertake a similar campaign to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth office and EU Human Rights
Dr Shiamala Suntharalingam
SLA shelling on church kills 14, Caritas-HUDEC Vanni director wounded[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 April 2009, 05:40 GMT]
Rev. Fr. T. R. Vasanthaseelan, the director of Human Development Centre (HUDEC) of Caritas Jaffna, the social arm of the Catholic Church in the Jaffna Diocese, was seriously wounded Thursday morning around 7:30 a.m. when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired shells on Our Lady of Roses Church in Valaignarmadam for the second day. 14 civilians who had taken refuge at the church were killed. The shelling on the church, which is the main centre for people seeking refuge in Valaignarmadam, comes a day after Rev. Fr. James Pathinathar was wounded in a similar attack. The SLA has attacked the church despite repeated calls from Jaffna Diocese not to target the church where 17 priests and 22 nuns were continuing to serve their congregations.
Rev. Fr. Vasanthaseelan
Fr. Vasanthaseelan, 35, had to have his left leg amputated, according to latest reports from Vanni.
The SLA has targeted Caritas-HUDEC head quarters in Vanni destroying humanitarian supplies on 31 January within the former 'safety zone' in Chuthanthirapuram.
HUDEC is the only local organisation, besides the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), to serve the displaced people in Vanni.
Meanwhile, Rev. Fr. Pathinathar, who was injured in SLA shelling on Wednesday has been transferred to Pulmoaddai in ICRC, according to medical sources.
Sixteen Catholic parishes in Mullaiththeevu have been forced to close down due to the artillery fire and aerial bombings by the Sri Lanka military, driving members of the parishes into the ‘safe zone' announced by the government within the LTTE administered area where they continue to spend their lives in the bunkers, according to the latest issue of Catholic Guardian.
We ask the international community to:
1. STOP the WAR and on going GENOCIDE of Tamils
2. Allow humanitarian aid and medicines and NGO's to the conflict zone
3. Allow international medial full access to the North and East to report the truth
4. release all tamils held in "internment" camps by the military
Dr Shiamala Suntharalingam
SLA shelling on church kills 14, Caritas-HUDEC Vanni director wounded[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 April 2009, 05:40 GMT]
Rev. Fr. T. R. Vasanthaseelan, the director of Human Development Centre (HUDEC) of Caritas Jaffna, the social arm of the Catholic Church in the Jaffna Diocese, was seriously wounded Thursday morning around 7:30 a.m. when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired shells on Our Lady of Roses Church in Valaignarmadam for the second day. 14 civilians who had taken refuge at the church were killed. The shelling on the church, which is the main centre for people seeking refuge in Valaignarmadam, comes a day after Rev. Fr. James Pathinathar was wounded in a similar attack. The SLA has attacked the church despite repeated calls from Jaffna Diocese not to target the church where 17 priests and 22 nuns were continuing to serve their congregations.
Rev. Fr. Vasanthaseelan
Fr. Vasanthaseelan, 35, had to have his left leg amputated, according to latest reports from Vanni.
The SLA has targeted Caritas-HUDEC head quarters in Vanni destroying humanitarian supplies on 31 January within the former 'safety zone' in Chuthanthirapuram.
HUDEC is the only local organisation, besides the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), to serve the displaced people in Vanni.
Meanwhile, Rev. Fr. Pathinathar, who was injured in SLA shelling on Wednesday has been transferred to Pulmoaddai in ICRC, according to medical sources.
Sixteen Catholic parishes in Mullaiththeevu have been forced to close down due to the artillery fire and aerial bombings by the Sri Lanka military, driving members of the parishes into the ‘safe zone' announced by the government within the LTTE administered area where they continue to spend their lives in the bunkers, according to the latest issue of Catholic Guardian.
We ask the international community to:
1. STOP the WAR and on going GENOCIDE of Tamils
2. Allow humanitarian aid and medicines and NGO's to the conflict zone
3. Allow international medial full access to the North and East to report the truth
4. release all tamils held in "internment" camps by the military
Dr Shiamala Suntharalingam
"Amnesty International has started an email campaign to get Australian Foreign Minister to intervene.
Please get friends and family to sign immediatelyl
The mail to sign is at the right of the page."
im a uk citizen. would it be appropriate for me to write the the australian foreign minister? ok, i'll do so.
its such a shame that while innocents are dying, non-tamils in the uk does nothing, i am ashamed of my country.
I don't see Amnesty UK doing enough to address this situation in the affected parts of Northern Sri Lanka.
Even in the monthly magazine, there is literally no word on the situation. How can this be so when this is the worst humanitarian crisis involving some of the worst human rights atrocities in the World right now?
And then I get a call from the Amnesty fund-raising office the other day asking for an increased donation. I said not until I see some results for the money I already give.
I am considering taking away my contribution to Amnesty altogether unless things change fast in terms of their contribution to what is going on…at the very least a full page spread in their magazine.
I don't see Amnesty UK doing enough to address this situation in the affected parts of Northern Sri Lanka.
Even in the monthly magazine, there is literally no word on the situation. How can this be so when this is the worst humanitarian crisis involving some of the worst human rights atrocities in the World right now?
And then I get a call from the Amnesty fund-raising office the other day asking for an increased donation. I said not until I see some results for the money I already give.
I am considering taking away my contribution to Amnesty altogether unless things change fast in terms of their contribution to what is going on…at the very least a full page spread in their magazine.
I don't see Amnesty UK doing enough to address this situation in the affected parts of Northern Sri Lanka.
Even in the monthly magazine, there is literally no word on the situation. How can this be so when this is the worst humanitarian crisis involving some of the worst human rights atrocities in the World right now?
And then I get a call from the Amnesty fund-raising office the other day asking for an increased donation. I said not until I see some results for the money I already give.
I am considering taking away my contribution to Amnesty altogether unless things change fast in terms of their contribution to what is going on…at the very least a full page spread in their magazine.
I don't see Amnesty UK doing enough to address this situation in the affected parts of Northern Sri Lanka.
Even in the monthly magazine, there is literally no word on the situation. How can this be so when this is the worst humanitarian crisis involving some of the worst human rights atrocities in the World right now?
And then I get a call from the Amnesty fund-raising office the other day asking for an increased donation. I said not until I see some results for the money I already give.
I am considering taking away my contribution to Amnesty altogether unless things change fast in terms of their contribution to what is going on…at the very least a full page spread in their magazine.
can the computer geek at amnesty please sort out this error we have when we send our comments, and then theres an error saying the comment is not sent, and then we go bak to it and find it was sent in the first place.
this leads to much confusion and explains the ppl who accidentally sent in copies of one comment because they resend it thinking it hasnt already been sent
no offence is intended by the word geek
Personally, I do not see anything to protest about.
As long as Shri Lanka does not commit any war crimes, and there is no evidence that they have that I have seen, it is within its rights to fight a war against terrorist organisations.
I'm not a pacifist. Some wars are worth fighting. I would personally quite like seeing the Tamil Tigers rot in hell. From what I have read about the battlefield situation on the front line, the Tigers appear to be on their last legs and close to being wiped out as a military force.
If true, this is the very worst time to seak a cease fire. If a cease fire is put in place, then all those hundreds of thousands of civilians who have died thus far have died for nothing. The Tamils will rebuild and we will have hundreds of thousands more deaths on our hands during the next round.
I say wipe them out once and for all. Then Sri Lanka stands a chance of bringing real peace to their country.
And if the Tigers (as suggested by the Sri Lankan military) are indeed using their own civilians as human shields (by forcing the Sri Lankan military to fight in heavy civilian areas using the threat of a horrendeous civilian death toll to pursuade the Sri Lankans not to fight), then I think that's sick. International law dictates that the Tigers may not use these tactics. Any civilians that die in consequence are the sole responsibility of the Tigers and the defeated Tiger leaders should be tried for blatant war crimes for these deaths.
The worrying thing about the Sri Lankan situation is that although tamils had been campaigning for many days in front of the parliament, no one has taken any notice. It looks like the international community or even the british government doesn't care about these innocent people being killed every day.
Before they come up with a scheme to stop this war, all tamils in the island would have been killed. If they don't intervene now, its just going to go down in history as another catastrophe that was not stoppped by the world.
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With respect ;), Adita.