INGO exit starts in Sri Lanka, NPA pulls out first

COLOMBO – The on going tussle between the government of Sri Lanka and the INGOs led the first INGO, Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA) to pull out from Sri Lanka. “We have given up,” said the General Secretary of the Norwegian Peoples Aid, Petter Eide, on the organisations decision to pull out from Sri Lanka.

Stating that the NPA was blackmailed and harassed by the Sri Lankan authorities, he said: “We don’t want to be there. We have decided to pull out because the authorities have made our work impossible,” Norway’s leading news agency NTB reported on Monday.

NPA was engaged in Mine Clearance Programme which was conducted in the North and North East of Sri Lanka. The project has been funded by a combination of International Donors, mainly the Norwegian Government and the Japanese Government. Majority of operations were conducted from Ki’linochchi where funding and support was given to the Humanitarian Demining Unit (HDU).

The long standing conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and INGOs turn from worst to disaster recently as the government first ordered them out of rebel held Vanni and then systematically targeted them to kick them out of Sri Lanka. Government officials privately told TNS they are in the process to kick out three INGOs from the Island nation.

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) was established in 1939 by the Norwegian Labour Movement. Norwegian People’s aid has commitments in more than 30 countries. It is one of the leading organizations worldwide in humanitarian mine action. They have been actively promoting an international ban on landmines.

The organisation is lately active on banning and destroying cluster-bombs. They celebrate the success on cluster-bomb-ban-treaty to be signed in Oslo on Wednesday. As they exit from Sri Lanka there are accusations that Sri Lanka is using Russian made OFAB-500 cluster bombs against Tamil Civilians in the North of Sri Lanka.

Cluster bomb survivors and campaigners welcomed the formal adoption of the Cluster Munitions Convention by over 100 countries. This historic treaty bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of all existing and future cluster bombs. To keep pressure on governments and to ensure that the treaty enters into force, campaigners launched the People’s Treaty.

The work of Norwegian People’s Aid has four main pillars. They are Work against oppression, poverty and unfair distribution of resources. Fighting racism and discrimination. Working for gender equality, and against violence and abuse. Prevention, promoting voluntarism and building competence.