Sri Lanka: Tamils prepare for remembrance ceremony in UK

Saturday, 24 November 2007

Tamil Diaspora community in the UK is preparing to remember thousands of their fellow men and women who died in the ethnic conflict in the island of Sri Lanka. Remembrance ceremonies are expected to be held world-wide on Tuesday, 27 November. Tamils are thought to number over 100, 000 in the former colonial ruler.

This year the organisers, a consortium of Tamil community groups, have hired London's largest indoor-venue, the Excel Centre for the main event.

Excel Centre has a capacity of 25, 000 people at anyone time.

Organisers expect that around 75, 000 people will garland the photos of fallen heroes, throughout the day.

The logistics involved in getting so many people in and out of the venue is ground breaking.

Speaking to SiberNews a volunteer involved in the logistical operations said: "Our main difficulty is that we can not let everyone stay inside the venue, because of the venue's capacity.

"At the same time we have to be sensitive not to force people out of the venue straight after the photos have been garlanded.

"We have to remember that many of the people in attendance would have lost at least a loved one in the war.

"It is a major logistical challenge, but we have the necessary highly capable volunteers to successfully embrace the event."

In 2006, an estimated 50, 000 people attended the funeral of the Tamil's Chief Negotiator Anton Balasingham, held at London's Alexandra Palace.

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