The Plight of Tamil Civilians: NO CHANGE

By Chandi Sinnathurai

Countercurrents.org March 20, 2009



There is no famine of view points or opinions on this Sri Lankan dirty war on Tamil civilians. Much ink has been spilt, and inch columns have been filled by various journalists and writers. So much have been spoken by politicians, protests by activists, government and non-Governmental agencies both local and foreign. But, one thing is constant: All of these have failed to change either the mind of the Sri Lankan state or the plight of the Tamil civilians in the North.

The international community on the other hand mooted the idea of an humanitarian intervention. The grand plan was to ‘evacuate’ the civilians (around 200,000) from the Tiger pocket (35 sq km) of land. In other words, to deplete the Tigers of the so-called ‘civilian shield.’ Nothing seem to have materialised.

Tamil Tigers have repeatedly called for a ceasefire in order to kick-start negotiations. The SL Government has categorically rejected that appeal. For both India and Sri Lanka they want the Tigers disarmed. That might be the position of the international community including the UN.

In the Vanni region, there are over 330,000 Internally Displaced People without proper medical care, shelter, food, water and other necessary items.

BBC News* reported yesterday (19/03/09):

‘In addition to the war-related casualties, the lack of food, water and medical supplies left a number of children dead from acute respiratory infection and diarrhoea in the final two weeks of February,’ says James Elder, the spokesperson for Unicef, the UN children's agency.

According to BBC, Annemarie Loof, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) head in Sri Lanka, is quoted to have said:

‘MSF doctors came across a mother who lived with her child inside a bunker for four months - another woman had lost her two children in the fighting, then her husband went missing after losing a leg and a hand in an artillery attack.’

The fundamental cause of civilian suffering, according to aid workers, is owing to ‘the denial of freedom of movement for people trapped…’ *MSF pointed out that, both parties need to prioritise civilian safety.

The sad fact is, the war is continuing, and daily helpless civilians are dying.

BBC News Article Civilian Misery in Northern Sri Lanka