Civil war victims in Sri Lanka losing out to tsunami focus
-03/01/06
The focus on tsun
Civil war victims in Sri Lanka losing out to tsunami focus
-03/01/06
The focus on tsunami relief is in danger of taking attention away from the long-standing crisis of war refugees in Sri Lanka, according to a report to be published tomorrow (4 January 2006) in the Christian Science Monitor.
Some 90,000 people displaced by civil war within the country have received a slower response than those caught up in the Boxing Day 2004 disaster, threatening to deepen ethnic grievances, says correspondent Sunil Jagtiani.
Development and aid workers say the some internal refugees have languished in camps ever since the onset of hostilities between the government and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 1983.
The refugees come mainly from the Tamil community, the biggest minority in Sri Lanka, which feels it is discriminated against by the majority Sinhalese community. The civil war flows from this claim of discrimination.
Refugee experts worry the aid disparity could exacerbate Tamil ethnic grievances and further stall attempts to achieve a just and peaceful settlement.
The advocacy group Refugees International took up the issue in a recent report based on an inspection of Sri Lankan refugee camps, says the Monitor.
The group labels the disparities in aid as “unjust.” It also describes the aid funds available to war refugees as “meagre” compared with the “generous outpouring” for tsunami survivors.
Following the tsunami a year ago, international donors pledged around 3 billion US dollars in 2005 to rebuild Sri Lanka and to provide shelter for an estimated 516,000 displaced survivors.
But assistance to civil war refugees has been cut during the same period, one of the numerous factors which have imperilled a fragile cease-fire between Tamil rebels and the government.
Over the Christmas period a moderate politician was assassinated in a Catholic cathedral, the latest manifestation of underlying conflict and discontent.
However there is some hope. Refugees International says that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Colombo is to seek government approval and donor funding to relocate the most vulnerable war refugees by the end of 2006.
Moves are also afoot to allow tsunami relief funds to be spent on war refugees where appropriate, the agency adds.
[Also on Ekklesia: Sri Lanka politician gunned down in Catholic cathedral 01/01/06; Millions mourn tsunami victims one year on; Sri Lankan bishops say peace process must be inclusive; Christians urged to stir up a storm in a tea cup]
Civil war victims in Sri Lanka losing out to tsunami focus
-03/01/06
The focus on tsunami relief is in danger of taking attention away from the long-standing crisis of war refugees in Sri Lanka, according to a report to be published tomorrow (4 January 2006) in the Christian Science Monitor.
Some 90,000 people displaced by civil war within the country have received a slower response than those caught up in the Boxing Day 2004 disaster, threatening to deepen ethnic grievances, says correspondent Sunil Jagtiani.
Development and aid workers say the some internal refugees have languished in camps ever since the onset of hostilities between the government and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 1983.
The refugees come mainly from the Tamil community, the biggest minority in Sri Lanka, which feels it is discriminated against by the majority Sinhalese community. The civil war flows from this claim of discrimination.
Refugee experts worry the aid disparity could exacerbate Tamil ethnic grievances and further stall attempts to achieve a just and peaceful settlement.
The advocacy group Refugees International took up the issue in a recent report based on an inspection of Sri Lankan refugee camps, says the Monitor.
The group labels the disparities in aid as “unjust.” It also describes the aid funds available to war refugees as “meagre” compared with the “generous outpouring” for tsunami survivors.
Following the tsunami a year ago, international donors pledged around 3 billion US dollars in 2005 to rebuild Sri Lanka and to provide shelter for an estimated 516,000 displaced survivors.
But assistance to civil war refugees has been cut during the same period, one of the numerous factors which have imperilled a fragile cease-fire between Tamil rebels and the government.
Over the Christmas period a moderate politician was assassinated in a Catholic cathedral, the latest manifestation of underlying conflict and discontent.
However there is some hope. Refugees International says that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Colombo is to seek government approval and donor funding to relocate the most vulnerable war refugees by the end of 2006.
Moves are also afoot to allow tsunami relief funds to be spent on war refugees where appropriate, the agency adds.
[Also on Ekklesia: Sri Lanka politician gunned down in Catholic cathedral 01/01/06; Millions mourn tsunami victims one year on; Sri Lankan bishops say peace process must be inclusive; Christians urged to stir up a storm in a tea cup]