Humanitarian Crisis Hub

The current situation

The Sri Lankan government’s victory over the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE on 19 May 2009 marked an end to the 26-year-long armed conflict, which claimed up to 100,000 lives and displaced a million people.
Despite the end of the war, there are signs that peace could be an illusive dream for this deeply divided country.  The post-war policies of President Rajapaksa serve to deepen the grievances of the Tamils. The majority political parties remain dominated by the Sinhalese and the government has neglected to implement political reforms to address the Tamils’ concerns. Furthermore, the government’s development and reconstruction plans for the Tamil Eelam region remain unclear, and the plans they do have were developed without consulting local communities and political leaders in the region.
Also, the return of internally displaced persons or IDPs to their homes is a major human rights concern in post-conflict Sri Lanka. UNHCR reports that the 2009 conflict added a further 280,000 displaced people to the existing 300,000 IDPs, some of whom have been waiting to go home since 1990.
In this context, the Sri Lankan Government’s pledge on 21 November 2009 to resettle all remaining civilians by 31 January 2010 was encouraging. However progress on their resettlement has so far been slow,  leading to concerns that many of the displaced people could remain in the camps for many years. In fact,  April 2010 figures from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade show that while around 206,000 IDPs were reported to have been released, approximately 82,500 IDPs continue to remain in the camps.
Furthermore, there are a number of significant obstacles that displaced civilians face in returning home: many of the IDPs’ places of origin continue to be riddled with landmines; a shattered economy makes it difficult for them to re-establish their livelihoods; many homes and much of the infrastructure are damaged; and there are inadequate administrative structures in areas formerly held by the LTTE.

Violations of International Humanitarian Law

According to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, both the LTTE and the government military committed massive human rights abuses during the conflict.
This was especially evident during the last months of the war. UN agencies estimate that between January and May 2009 during the height of the war, more than 15,000 civilians were wounded and 7,500 people were killed.

Government violations

During the end of the conflict in 2009, the Sinhalese-controlled government indiscriminately shelled densely populated areas, including hospitals and ‘safe zone’ areas where civilians were encouraged to seek shelter, and tried to justify these attacks by arguing that they harboured LTTE sympathizers.
The conditions in the detention camps also failed to meet international human rights standards. Human Rights Watch reports that severe overcrowding, with many of the camps holding twice the number recommended by the UN, made access to basic needs such as food, water, shelter, toilets, difficult.
Furthermore, it says that the government failed to provide people with enough information about why they were being detained, the whereabouts of missing relatives or how they could return home.
Other government abuses included extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances, forcible return of IDPs, severe media restrictions, and an environment of impunity for human rights violators.

LTTE Violations

The LTTE has also been accused of violating international humanitarian law. The United Nations reports that the LTTE was seen to be forcibly recruiting civilians, using children under the age of 18 in armed combat and hiring civilians for untrained military duty and for combat zones.

According to Human Rights Watch, during the final months of the conflict, the LTTE continued to forcibly recruit civilians, including children, into its forces, used civilians as human shields, physically prevented and at times shot at Tamil civilians under their control trying to flee the fighting into government-held territory and bombed designated ‘safe areas’ such as hospitals where refugees and internally displaced populations gathered.

Australia’s relationship with Sri Lanka

In 2008-09, the total financial and humanitarian aid assistance provided to Sri Lankans affected by conflict was approximately $46 million.
Currently, AusAID- the Australian Government agency responsible for managing Australia’s overseas aid program- funds go primarily towards post-conflict humanitarian work, with a portion of aid directed towards development initiatives.
This humanitarian assistance has resulted in strengthened engagement from the local business sector in promoting peace, the construction of over 1,000 houses, and improved livelihood options to 800 conflict-affected youth and livelihood support to 291 fishing families in northern Sri Lanka.
On 9 November 2009, Australia announced that it would provide Sri Lanka with $11 million to assist the resettlement and reconstruction process.  Specific provisions of this aid included: $6 million for demining; $3 million to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat) to assist in the repair and reconstruction of houses; and $2 million to the World Food Program to help people who have been resettled and are in need of urgent food assistance.
Economically, Australia and Sri Lanka have strong trade relations valued at $329 billion per year. Australia’s main exports consist of vegetables and dairy products, while tea and other food products are imported from Sri Lanka.
These strong trade ties also extend to education and immigration. In 2009, more than 8000 students from Sri Lanka were studying at Australian tertiary institutions, thus portraying Australia as a leader in providing quality education services, while the Sri Lankan community in Australia is over 80,000.

Asylum seekers and Australia

As a result of the conflict, from 2000 to 2008, more than one million people fled Sri Lanka in search of safety.  Of these, Australia accepted 11,352 refugees and asylum seekers.
Two major incidents became a source of political tension between Australia and its nearest neighbour Indonesia- which many asylum seekers use as a stepping stone en route to Australia- with each country claiming the asylum seekers are the responsibility of the other.
In 2009, 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers on their way to Australia were rescued from their sinking boat by an Australian customs vessel, the Oceanic Viking. It moved them to an Australia-funded immigration detention centre on the Indonesian island of Bintan.
However, the asylum seekers refused to get off in Indonesia and chose to remain on the Oceanic Viking for a month. They disembarked after the Federal Government promised that those asylum seekers recognised as refugees would be resettled within four weeks. The United Nations granted all 78 people refugee status.
In another incident that year, 254 Tamil asylum seekers were on their way to Australia when, at the request of the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Indonesian police and border patrol forces seized them and took them to Merak, Indonesia. However, inspired by the speedy processing of the people on the Oceanic Viking, the asylum seekers refused to disembark until they were guaranteed a quick resettlement.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono intervened and gave orders to treat the asylum seekers with care and dignity. However, after six months, (in a boat with one toilet and shower that was meant for 50 people) Indonesian police forcibly moved the asylum seekers off their boat and took them to Tanjung Pinang detention centre.  The UNHCR promised that it would resettle them within 12 months.

History of the Sri Lankan conflict

Sri Lanka has been afflicted by civil war between the armed forces and the insurgent LTTE since 1983. The LTTE fought for secession from Sri Lanka and for the establishment of an independent state, Tamil Eelam, in the northern and eastern part of the island.
The conflict in Sri Lanka has been one of the longest running civil wars in Asia and it has deep roots in its colonial history.
Under British colonial rule (1815-1947), the minority Hindu Tamils held more influential positions within the British administration than those held by the Buddhist Sinhalese. However, since independence in 1948, Sri Lanka’s government has been controlled by the Sinhalese majority.
The growing animosity between these ethnic groups led to the formation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).  Tensions between the Tamil separatists and Sinhalese majority deteriorated into war in 1983.
After 19 years of conflict, peace negotiations were brokered between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, which resulted in the formal ceasefire of 2002. However, this ceasefire was short-lived. The causes for this failure were a lack of political will, such as the inability to implement constitutional reforms due to the failure to attract the needed two-third majority in Parliament, lack of power sharing arrangements and the inability to reach a consensus on decisions.
The assassination of Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August 2005 reignited the conflict. During the two years that followed the assassination, both the government and LTTE repeatedly violated the cease-fire agreement. In January 2008 a cabinet spokesman for the Sri Lankan government said that ‘it was useless talking to [the LTTE] now’ and the Sri Lankan government formally withdrew from the truce, which led Nordic peace observers to withdraw from the country.

The way forward

Analysts say that long term peace and stability in Sri Lanka will depend on how well the country manages to:

- re-establish administrative structures that were controlled by the LTTE;
- rebuild private homes and public infrastructure;
- strengthen the country’s economy, namely agriculture and fisheries;
- complete the de-mining process;
- rebuild community-based organizations to improve livelihood opportunities for civilians;
- build confidence between host communities and IDPs. According to the UNHCR, ensuring the protection and monitoring of IDPs during the return process to make sure it is carried out with safety and dignity is a strategic priority;
-and ensure that confidence-building and stabilization measures are adopted and that the security forces, civil administration and local communities regain trust in each other.

In fact, analysts warn that in order to achieve long-lasting peace in Sri Lanka, ethnic differences between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamil minority must be resolved.

The International Crisis Group, for one, says that unless the Sri Lankan government works towards a more lasting solution, the dream of an independent Tamil homeland will continue to resonate powerfully across the Tamil diaspora and will continue to be a political factor despite the defeat of the LTTE.

Useful contacts

Diplomatic representation

Australia’s embassy in Sri Lanka
Australian High Commission
No. 21 Gregory’s Road,
Colombo 7
Tel: + 94 11 2463200
Fax: + 9411 2686 453
Email: austcom@sltnet.lk
www.srilanka.embassy.gov.au

The Consulate General of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka in Australia
Level 11, No 48, Hunter Street
Sydney 2000
Tel: (02) 9223 8729 and/or (02) 9223 8742
Fax: (02) 9223 8750
Email: slcgsyd@bigpond.com
www.slcgsyd.com

International organisations working in Sri Lanka

UN organisations

OCHA
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
202-204, Bauddhaloka Mawatha
Colombo 7
Sri Lanka
Tel: +94 11 2504434, +94 11 2504435
Fax: +94 11 2504433

OHCHR
Human Rights Adviser
c/o UNDP, 202-204 Bauddhaloka Mawatha,
Colombo 7,
Sri Lanka

PO Box 1505, Colombo 7

Tel: +94 11 258 0691

UNDP
United Nations Development Programme, Sri Lanka office
202-204, Baudhaloka Mawatha
Colombo 7
Sri Lanka

Tel: +94 112 580691
Fax: +94 112 581116, +94 112 2501396
Email: registry.lk@undp.org

UNHCR
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
97 Rosmead Place
Colombo 07
Sri Lanka

Tel: +94 11 268 3968
Fax: + 94 11 268 3971
Email: lkacoweb@unhcr.org

UNICEF
35 Balapokuna Road
Colombo 5,
Sri Lanka

PO Box 143, Colombo

Tel: +94 11 2768555
Fax: +94 11 2768650
Email: colombo@unicef.org

Humanitarian NGOs
Care
www.care.org/careswork/projects/cindex_97.asp

Caritas
www.caritas.org.au/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Asia

Oxfam
www.oxfam.org/development/sri-lanka

Plan

http://plan-international.org/where-we-work/asia/sri-lanka

World Vision

http://srilanka.wvasiapacific.org/

References
Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, “Sri Lanka Country Brief”.

http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/sri_lanka/sri_lanka_country_brief.html#ausbr

Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, “Sri Lanka Country Brief – October 2008”, 2008. www.dfat.gov.au/geo/sri_lanka/sri_lanka_country_brief.html

BBC, “Lessons of war from Tigers’ Defeat”.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8057118.stm

BBC, “Post- War Sri Lanka”.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2405347.stm

The Consulate General of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, “Trade with Australia from the point of view of Sri Lanka 2003”.

http://www.slcgsyd.com/index14.htm

CNN, “Red Cross: Crisis Unfolding in Sri Lanka”.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/01/28/sri.lanka.fighting/index.html

CNN, “U.N., U.S. call for end to Sri Lanka fighting”.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/13/obama.sri.lanka/index.html

International Crisis Group, “Country Profile: Sri Lanka”.
www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4523

International Crisis Group, “Sri Lanka”.

http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/south-asia/sri-lanka.aspx

Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, 2008 –“Sri Lanka: Continuing humanitarian concerns and obstacles to durable solutions for recent and longer-term IDP’s”.
www.internaldisplacement.org/8025708F004CE90B/ (httpCountries)/0BB9CBD990450F5F802570A7004C148F?OpenDocument

OHCHR – Sri Lanka
www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/AsiaRegion/Pages/LKIndex.aspx

UNESCO Worldwide – Sri Lanka
portal.unesco.org/geography/en/ev.php-URL_ID=2425&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

UNICEF, “Sri Lanka: Crisis Overview”.

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/sri_lanka_22310.html

United Nations Statistics Division: National Accounts – Sri Lanka
millenniumindicators.un.org/unsd/snaama/resultsCountry.asp?Country=144

AVAAZ. 2008. “Sri Lanka Not Forgotten”.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/sri_lanka_civilians/

UNHCR. Sri Lanka: “2010 UNHCR Country Operations Profile-Sri Lanka”.

http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e4878e6

CIA. “Publications: The World Factbook-South Asia Sri Lanka”.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ce.html

The Guardian. “Sri Lanka ceasefire brings hope of final settlement”.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/feb/23/srilanka

Council on Foreign Relations. “The Sri Lankan Conflict”.

http://www.cfr.org/publication/11407/

Groundviews. “The internment of IDPs in Sri Lanka: Comparisons with another example from US history”.

http://www.groundviews.org/2009/07/10/the-internment-of-idps-in-sri-lanka-comparisons-with-another-example-from-us-history/

http://www.groundviews.org/2009/10/02/idps-detainees-and-escapees/

Council on Foreign Relations. “The Sri Lankan Conflict”.

http://www.cfr.org/publication/11407/

Council on Foreign Relations. “The Sri Lankan Conflict”.

http://www.cfr.org/publication/11407/

The Australian. “Sri Lankans threaten to blow up boat in Indonesia”.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/sri-lankans-threaten-to-blow-up-boat-in-indonesia/story-e6frg6so-1225786468537

UNHCR. “A young mother faces new challenges after returning to eastern Sri Lanka”.

http://www.unhcr.org/4b449f7a6.html

http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e4878e6