Monsoon onset raising fears for Sri Lanka war‐displaced – Reuters
The onset of monsoon rains in Sri Lanka is raising fears for the safety of thousands of war‐displaced Tamils after rain flooded camps, ruined shelters and caused sewage to overflow, aid workers said on Tuesday.
Around 280,000 Tamils are being held in Manik Farm camp in the Indian Ocean island’s north, after government forces defeated Tamil Tiger separatists and ended a 25‐year civil war.
The war in Sri Lanka has ended but the suffering continues
Any health system would have difficulties responding to the needs of over 260,000 people who recently came out of a war zone. And so, facilities in the Sri Lankan IDP camps are overstretched. People sometimes need to wait days before they can see a doctor for treatment and at night non‐medical people decide who gets referred to a hospital and who does not.
Jaffna University students speak to WSWS
Jaffna University students and staff recently spoke with WSWS correspondents over the run-down state of the campus, its desperate lack of basic facilities and the ongoing military repression in the northern Sri Lankan town of Jaffna.
Despite the military defeat of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May, Jaffna remains under heavy army occupation with extensive roadblocks and constant patrols. The names of the students have been withheld to protect them from persecution by the security forces.
Sri Lanka careering back to where it was
After the government of Sri Lanka finally and violently crushed the 25-year-old insurrection by Tamil rebels last May, there were hopes this sparkling island in the Indian Ocean would finally emerge from its dark history into the light. That is already looking forlorn, says Financial Times in its editorial yesterday under the caption ‘Dark triumphalism clouds Sri Lanka.’
UK Parliament committee says Britain should push for international probe into Sri Lanka war crimes
The UK parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee wants Britain to press for the setting up of an international war crimes inquiry into the conduct of the war in Sri Lanka.
The Committee said Britain should use the leverage at its disposal to end the “prevalent culture of impunity” regarding rights abuses in Sri Lanka.
KP – he knows secrets that have never been told
The first announcement, as most Sri Lankans prepared to retire to their beds on Thursday night, came just before a special Sri Lankan Airlines non stop flight touched down at the Bandaranaike International Airport. It had taken off from the Kuala Lumpur.
“Operation KP”: Extraordinary rendition of New Tiger Chief
Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias “KP” a.k.a. Kumaran Pathmanathan is currently in the custody of Sri Lankan officials at a secret location. A team of terrorism investigators is interrogating the man who was designated last month as head of the re-structured Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Some thoughts on a political programme of Eelam Tamils in the current context of our homeland
Writing in these pages, last week, I pointed out that it is not easy to travel the path of politico-diplomatic path. I have also underlined the fact that the journey would be long, arduous and would require immense patience.
I stressed the importance of the political programme for this journey and indicated that we would discuss issues related to our political programme this week.
‘It is time for the Lankan govt to reach out to Tamils’ – Deepak Obhrai
Canada’s conservative Member of Parliament Deepak Obhrai, who’s also Parliamentary Secretary to Minister for Foreign Affairs Lawrence Canon, was on an official visit to Lanka from July 5 to July 7 to visit refugee camps and ensure that Canadian aid is reaching the Tamil refugees there.
