There are no indications that the A9 highway in the North and the A15 highway in the East can be reopened. As a result the Tamils who live in the open prison of the peninsula suffer greatly.

They were displaced from one place to another. Most of them live in refugee camps, while the others live with their relatives. The problems of the displaced people in Vaharai are also the same.

The human tragedy in the peninsula in the North and Vaharai in the east cannot be resolved without a consensus between the government and the LTTE. But chances are unlikely. The people of the peninsula have been suffering from human tragedy for the last 4 months, while people of Vaharai have been experiencing a similar human tragedy for the last two years.

Had there been a humanitarian approach, the closure of the A9 highway in the peninsula and the closure of A15 highway in the east could have been resolved amicably. Thereby the people in both the peninsula and Vaharai could have been saved from starvation, diseases and other human tragedies.

According to provision 2.1.0 of the Ceasefire Agreement A9 highway should have remained open. Closure of the A9 highway is a breach of the CFA. The A9 highway that remained open for 4 years under the CFA has been closed for the last four months by the government.

It is strange that the no body questions the government regarding the propriety or otherwise of the closure of the A9 highway. The President states that all the Tamils are not tigers and that the government has to win over the hearts of the Tamils. How can the government win over the hearts of the Tamils by failing to resolve the humanitarian problems of the Tamils in the North and East.

An English translation of the Editorial in Uthayan, a Tamil daily, based in Jaffna

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