Sri Lankan activists are meeting senior British politicians in London at the start of a new campaign for an ethnic group crushed in the country's bitter civil war.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his shadow counterpart William Hague are among the MPs in what is a cross-party sign of support for Tamil attempts for recognition following the bloody end to the conflict last year.
For decades, the Tamil Tigers fought a separatist war in Sri Lanka in the hope of creating an independent homeland for Tamils.
They were seeking to protect themselves from discrimination at the hands of the ethnic Sinhalese majority.
The conflict penetrated the heart of the country with the Tamil Tigers carrying out devastating suicide bombings in the 1990s.
But, in May last year, government forces seized the last areas controlled by Tamil Tiger rebels.
The Tamils claim tens of thousands were killed by government forces, although nobody can independently verify exactly how many people died and the government disputes this figure.
But tens of thousands were driven into makeshift camps or fled from the country, including a woman Sky News spoke to who escaped to Britain with her two daughters.
Sky News is witholding her real name for fear of reprisals against her family in Sri Lanka - said she hoped there would be international recognition for the new Global Tamil Forum.
The forum wants international recognition for Tamils who she said have been "broken" by the way they were crushed by government forces at the end of the civil war.
Lochana said she was forced into a camp with her two daughters and contemplated suicide because conditions were so bad.
In the end, the mother managed to escape by bribing her way out of the camp.
She admitted to being a member of the Tamil Tigers, who are banned in the EU as a terrorist organisation.
But the new Global Tamil Forum says it is a non-violent organisation which wants to campaign for self-determination for Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamils.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The UK firmly believes that the only way to achieve lasting and equitable peace in Sri Lanka is through genuine national reconciliation.
"The UK will engage with all members of the Sri Lankan community who share this goal whether overseas or in Sri Lanka."
Copyrights to Sky News
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
USA asks Sri Lankan Government to focus on power sharing
Washington, Feb 23 : With the end of the war with Tamil Tigers, the US wants Sri Lanka to quickly complete resettlement of displaced people, pursue national reconciliation and power sharing and deal with the issue of possible war crimes.
"In our view I think one of the highest priorities now is first, to complete the resettlement of the internally displaced people," Robert O. Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs told BBC World News Monday, noting about 180,000 have been sent back from the camps, but approximately 100,000 still remain.
"I think it's important for them to be allowed to return to their homes and villages in the north as quickly as possible," he said when asked about his view on the respect now being shown for the Tamil minority eight months after the end of the war.
"Secondly, I think it's important for the government to pursue as quickly as possible this process of national reconciliation and power sharing, particularly with the north," Blake added.
"Then as part of that national reconciliation process, to begin a process of accountability for many of the human rights abuses that may have occurred during that war."
"And third, to again talk about the larger issue of possible war crimes that may have occurred. Again, that will be an important part of the larger reconciliation piece."
Asked about the treatment meted out to defeated opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka, Blake said: "So far I think it has been less than we might have hoped for, but we've certainly encouraged the government of Sri Lanka to ensure that he is charged promptly... and that everything is handled in accordance with Sri Lankan law as they move forward."
Blake said he could not comment on the charges against Fonseka as "we haven' t yet seen what the charges are". But "we've encouraged the government to make public as quickly as possible what those charges are.
"But I think that Sri Lankans themselves have spoken about the manner in which General Fonseka was arrested. Several monks, for example, several Buddhist monks have noted that this was handled in a very unprofessional and undignified way."
Copyright Indo Asian News
"In our view I think one of the highest priorities now is first, to complete the resettlement of the internally displaced people," Robert O. Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs told BBC World News Monday, noting about 180,000 have been sent back from the camps, but approximately 100,000 still remain.
"I think it's important for them to be allowed to return to their homes and villages in the north as quickly as possible," he said when asked about his view on the respect now being shown for the Tamil minority eight months after the end of the war.
"Secondly, I think it's important for the government to pursue as quickly as possible this process of national reconciliation and power sharing, particularly with the north," Blake added.
"Then as part of that national reconciliation process, to begin a process of accountability for many of the human rights abuses that may have occurred during that war."
"And third, to again talk about the larger issue of possible war crimes that may have occurred. Again, that will be an important part of the larger reconciliation piece."
Asked about the treatment meted out to defeated opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka, Blake said: "So far I think it has been less than we might have hoped for, but we've certainly encouraged the government of Sri Lanka to ensure that he is charged promptly... and that everything is handled in accordance with Sri Lankan law as they move forward."
Blake said he could not comment on the charges against Fonseka as "we haven' t yet seen what the charges are". But "we've encouraged the government to make public as quickly as possible what those charges are.
"But I think that Sri Lankans themselves have spoken about the manner in which General Fonseka was arrested. Several monks, for example, several Buddhist monks have noted that this was handled in a very unprofessional and undignified way."
Copyright Indo Asian News
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