Sri Lanka Watch, News and Discussions
- Thread starter pyromaniac
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Sabir, that is the official POV of the SL government, what I am interested is in knowing the mindset of the common ethnic Sinhalese population. Whether they support such kind of actions or not, or they don't support or they are not bothered, whatever, thats all. Just not the official word of the SL Foreign Ministry.
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Thats again difficult to guess from handful of members....And their opinion might vary depending on their origin-Sinhali or Tamil....
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Atrocity of Srilankan Navy against Indian fishermen is going to be headahe. That may create unrest in Tamil Nadu if GOI keep quite. Unofficially it is claimed around 800 fishermen were shot down, 250 of them in last two years. GOI gives a figure of 77 and sit like duck as if 77 lives dont matter anything.
How Many Indian Tamilnadu Fishermen did Sri Lankan Navy Kill?
How Many Indian Tamilnadu Fishermen did Sri Lankan Navy Kill?
they are very aggressive than chinese and they can stay here for one day so dont expect healthy discussion with them:thumbs_thmbdn:I don't know what the matter is. Don't they have internet in Sri Lanka, or is nobody interested in Defence? We have Bangladeshi, Chinese, Pakistani and Singaporean members here from S-Asian countries but none so far from Sri Lanka to give the Sri Lankan - Sinhalese POV to this.
Seems it will bring Srilanka in controversy but asusual nothing will happen. If a country like can do nothing and down play all allegations of Srilankan Navy's shooting on its own people as fake reportings then who is going to bother about what is happening inside Srilanka.
Sri Lanka has China's support. That's how they are able to pull this off even though the entire western world is against their actions.
India as usual is stuck doing the balancing act. On one hand, trying to keep up relations with SL, and on the other, trying to manage sentiments in TN.
India as usual is stuck doing the balancing act. On one hand, trying to keep up relations with SL, and on the other, trying to manage sentiments in TN.
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India cautions Lanka against attacking Indian fishermen
Sri Lanka Breaking News-Daily Mirror Online
Chennai: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India had cautioned Sri Lanka against its Navy attacking Indian fishermen, and had been taking steps to rehabilitate Lankan Tamils now kept in camps in the island nation.
Dr Singh had conveyed this to DMK Parliamentary Leader T R Baalu when he called on him to hand over Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's letter and a copy of the resolution adopted at the DMK's “Mupperum Vizha,” urging the Centre to confer Indian citizenship on Lankan Tamil refugees living in Tamil Nadu.
A DMK release here on Thursday said that, when Mr Baalu handed over the letter and urged him to accede to the demand, the Prime Minister had told him that steps were being taken for the rehabilitation of the Lankan Tamils
The Prime Minister had also told the DMK Leader that the Centre was holding preliminary level talks on sending a team to Sri Lanka (to visit the Tamils kept in temporary camps).
On Mr Karunanidhi's letter to the Centre, urging it to take immediate steps to put an end to the attacks on Indian fishermen by the Lankan Navy, the Prime Minister said the Union Government had already issued a warning to the Lankan Government against such incidents, the release said.
Later, Mr Baalu called on Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and handed over copies of Mr Karunanidhi's letter and the DMK resolution urging that Indian Citizenship be granted to Lankan Tamil Refugees in Tamil Nadu.
Ms Gandhi assured Mr Baalu that the Centre would take speedy action on the requests made by the Chief Minister, the release said.
The DMK, in a resolution, had urged the Centre to confer Indian citizenship on about 73,000 refugees living in 115 camps and about 30,000 Lankan Tamils living in various places in Tamil Nadu. (UNI)
Sri Lanka Breaking News-Daily Mirror Online
Chennai: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India had cautioned Sri Lanka against its Navy attacking Indian fishermen, and had been taking steps to rehabilitate Lankan Tamils now kept in camps in the island nation.
Dr Singh had conveyed this to DMK Parliamentary Leader T R Baalu when he called on him to hand over Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's letter and a copy of the resolution adopted at the DMK's “Mupperum Vizha,” urging the Centre to confer Indian citizenship on Lankan Tamil refugees living in Tamil Nadu.
A DMK release here on Thursday said that, when Mr Baalu handed over the letter and urged him to accede to the demand, the Prime Minister had told him that steps were being taken for the rehabilitation of the Lankan Tamils
The Prime Minister had also told the DMK Leader that the Centre was holding preliminary level talks on sending a team to Sri Lanka (to visit the Tamils kept in temporary camps).
On Mr Karunanidhi's letter to the Centre, urging it to take immediate steps to put an end to the attacks on Indian fishermen by the Lankan Navy, the Prime Minister said the Union Government had already issued a warning to the Lankan Government against such incidents, the release said.
Later, Mr Baalu called on Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and handed over copies of Mr Karunanidhi's letter and the DMK resolution urging that Indian Citizenship be granted to Lankan Tamil Refugees in Tamil Nadu.
Ms Gandhi assured Mr Baalu that the Centre would take speedy action on the requests made by the Chief Minister, the release said.
The DMK, in a resolution, had urged the Centre to confer Indian citizenship on about 73,000 refugees living in 115 camps and about 30,000 Lankan Tamils living in various places in Tamil Nadu. (UNI)
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fullstory
Russia will assist Lanka without conditions: Envoy
Colombo, Oct 9 (PTI) Assuring that it will render unconditional assistance to Sri Lanka, Russia has said it always respected the national dignity and sovereignty of the country.
"My country supported Sri Lanka starting from its struggle for independence, in building its national economy and of course in its struggle against terrorism," Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Vladimir Mikhaylov said yesterday.
"We have always respected the sovereignty, independence and the national dignity of Sri Lanka and will render all possible assistance without any conditions," he said.
The Russian Federation provided Sri Lanka an aid worth USD 5.82 lakh including two mobile power stations, tents, blankets, food items like canned meat and canned fish together, medicines and disinfectants for the IDPs in the North.
Russia will assist Lanka without conditions: Envoy
Colombo, Oct 9 (PTI) Assuring that it will render unconditional assistance to Sri Lanka, Russia has said it always respected the national dignity and sovereignty of the country.
"My country supported Sri Lanka starting from its struggle for independence, in building its national economy and of course in its struggle against terrorism," Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Vladimir Mikhaylov said yesterday.
"We have always respected the sovereignty, independence and the national dignity of Sri Lanka and will render all possible assistance without any conditions," he said.
The Russian Federation provided Sri Lanka an aid worth USD 5.82 lakh including two mobile power stations, tents, blankets, food items like canned meat and canned fish together, medicines and disinfectants for the IDPs in the North.
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fullstory
Ten Tamil MPs to travel to Sri Lanka tomorrow
New Delhi, Oct 9 (PTI) A delegation of MPs from Tamil Nadu will travel to Sri Lanka tomorrow to see for themselves the situation in camps where more than 3 lakh Tamils, displaced due to the civil war there, are currently living.
The delegation comprising 10 MPs from DMK, Congress and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) will leave from Chennai on a five-day visit to Sri Lanka during which they are expected to meet various Tamil leaders.
Reliable sources said the team will be headed by senior DMK leader T R Baalu and members are Kanimozhi, T K S Elangovan, Helen Davidson and A K S Vijayan from DMK and Sudharasana Natchiappan, N S V Chitan, J M Haroon and K S Azhagiri from the Congress.
VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan, a first-time MP, will also be a member of the team.
Ten Tamil MPs to travel to Sri Lanka tomorrow
New Delhi, Oct 9 (PTI) A delegation of MPs from Tamil Nadu will travel to Sri Lanka tomorrow to see for themselves the situation in camps where more than 3 lakh Tamils, displaced due to the civil war there, are currently living.
The delegation comprising 10 MPs from DMK, Congress and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) will leave from Chennai on a five-day visit to Sri Lanka during which they are expected to meet various Tamil leaders.
Reliable sources said the team will be headed by senior DMK leader T R Baalu and members are Kanimozhi, T K S Elangovan, Helen Davidson and A K S Vijayan from DMK and Sudharasana Natchiappan, N S V Chitan, J M Haroon and K S Azhagiri from the Congress.
VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan, a first-time MP, will also be a member of the team.
gokulakannan
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Sri Lanka's president scores new election win
Sri Lanka's ruling coalition won the latest in a string of provincial elections this weekend, a strong result which analysts said is likely to spur its leader to call early national and presidential polls.
With a popularity boost from his defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels after a 25-year war, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's coalition won 38 seats in the 55-member council of his native Southern Province in Saturday's election.
The United Peoples Freedom Alliance won 68 percent of the vote, less than the 70-80 percent it had forecast in the province where Rajapaksa has started massive development projects including work on the country's largest port.
The margin was still strong enough that Rajapaksa is now likely to call early national elections, analysts and supporters said.
"The president had told the party organisers to be prepared and ready for any future elections," Anusha Pelpita, director of the government information department, told Reuters.
Rajapaksa's allies expect him to call a presidential election in January -- ahead of when it is scheduled to happen, in November 2011-- while he still enjoys popularity from winning the war.
That popularity could fade if anticipated economic benefits from peace fail to materialise. There is already public grumbling over the high cost of living.
The earliest Rajapaksa can call a presidential election is after he completes his fourth year in charge on Nov. 16.
http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-43071820091012
Sri Lanka's ruling coalition won the latest in a string of provincial elections this weekend, a strong result which analysts said is likely to spur its leader to call early national and presidential polls.
With a popularity boost from his defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels after a 25-year war, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's coalition won 38 seats in the 55-member council of his native Southern Province in Saturday's election.
The United Peoples Freedom Alliance won 68 percent of the vote, less than the 70-80 percent it had forecast in the province where Rajapaksa has started massive development projects including work on the country's largest port.
The margin was still strong enough that Rajapaksa is now likely to call early national elections, analysts and supporters said.
"The president had told the party organisers to be prepared and ready for any future elections," Anusha Pelpita, director of the government information department, told Reuters.
Rajapaksa's allies expect him to call a presidential election in January -- ahead of when it is scheduled to happen, in November 2011-- while he still enjoys popularity from winning the war.
That popularity could fade if anticipated economic benefits from peace fail to materialise. There is already public grumbling over the high cost of living.
The earliest Rajapaksa can call a presidential election is after he completes his fourth year in charge on Nov. 16.
http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-43071820091012
gokulakannan
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gokulakannan
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2,400 displaced Lankan Tamils sent home today- T R Baalu
Sri Lanka Breaking News-Daily Mirror Online
Chennai: The first batch of 2,400 Tamils lodged in camps for internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka were sent back home today as assured by the government there, DMK MP T R Baalu, who led a team of Tamil Nadu MPs to the island nation, said.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse had assured the 10-member MPs delegation that 58,000 of the 2.53 lakh internally displaced Tamils would be sent home in the next fortnight starting today, Baalu said in a release here.
He said the 2,400 Sri Lankan Tamils were sent to their native places in buses and given essential items and Rs 5,000 each to meet their immediate requirements.
The team comprising MPs from DMK and its allies Congress and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi returned on Wednesday after a five-day tour of Sri Lanka to gain first hand knowledge of the condition of the displaced Tamils housed in the camps.
In its report submitted to Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, the delegation said that the camps lacked even basic amenities like sanitation and water.
Sri Lanka Breaking News-Daily Mirror Online
Chennai: The first batch of 2,400 Tamils lodged in camps for internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka were sent back home today as assured by the government there, DMK MP T R Baalu, who led a team of Tamil Nadu MPs to the island nation, said.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse had assured the 10-member MPs delegation that 58,000 of the 2.53 lakh internally displaced Tamils would be sent home in the next fortnight starting today, Baalu said in a release here.
He said the 2,400 Sri Lankan Tamils were sent to their native places in buses and given essential items and Rs 5,000 each to meet their immediate requirements.
The team comprising MPs from DMK and its allies Congress and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi returned on Wednesday after a five-day tour of Sri Lanka to gain first hand knowledge of the condition of the displaced Tamils housed in the camps.
In its report submitted to Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, the delegation said that the camps lacked even basic amenities like sanitation and water.
Pintu
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http://www.ptinews.com/news/336779_-India-ready-to-displace-more-funds-to-SL-for-Tamils-
'India ready to displace more funds to SL for Tamils'
STAFF WRITER 17:59 HRS IST
Chennai, Oct 18 (PTI) India is ready to release more funds to Sri Lanka for rehabilitation of the displaced Tamils in that country in addition to Rs 500 crore allocated earlier, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said today.
"The Centre had already allocated Rs 500 crore (towards the rehabilitation of Tamils). We can allocate more if required," Chidambaram told reporters after a meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, The two leaders among others discussed the resettlement of an estimated 2.5 lakh internally displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka.
The Minister said his discussion with Karunanidhi centered on the visit of the 10 MPs delegation to Sri Lanka last week which met Tamils to know their living conditions.
'India ready to displace more funds to SL for Tamils'
STAFF WRITER 17:59 HRS IST
Chennai, Oct 18 (PTI) India is ready to release more funds to Sri Lanka for rehabilitation of the displaced Tamils in that country in addition to Rs 500 crore allocated earlier, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said today.
"The Centre had already allocated Rs 500 crore (towards the rehabilitation of Tamils). We can allocate more if required," Chidambaram told reporters after a meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, The two leaders among others discussed the resettlement of an estimated 2.5 lakh internally displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka.
The Minister said his discussion with Karunanidhi centered on the visit of the 10 MPs delegation to Sri Lanka last week which met Tamils to know their living conditions.
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Former child soldiers move on in Sri Lanka
AMBEPUSSA, Sri Lanka — Vinojan's boyhood ended when Sri Lanka's civil war reignited.
Fifteen at the time, he says he joined the separatist Tamil Tigers to save his older brother from forcible conscription, and became a reluctant fighter as the rebels fought their last, desperate battles for survival.
Now, having won the war, Sri Lanka is trying to make patriotic citizens out of child soldiers like Vinojan and others who just months ago were fighting against the nation.
Vinojan, who nurses a dark scar on his wrist from a shrapnel wound, is just trying to reclaim what is left of a childhood cut short.
"We wanted to be students. All that was shattered," he said.
About 570 children, some as young as 13, are among an estimated 10,000 captured rebels who have been sent to government rehabilitation camps around the island since the 25-year war for a separate Tamil state ended in May. Tamils are an ethnic minority in the country of 21 million people off the coast of India.
"These are children who were exposed to danger, taken away from their families and deprived of their childhood," said Maj. Gen. Daya Ratnayake, the military official in charge of the camps. "Our hope is to get them back to normal as much as possible."
The former child soldiers say they want simply to be reunited with their families. But some have lost relatives or are still searching for them.
Meanwhile, the government is working to ensure they don't pick up arms again. But it has done little to fulfill its pledge to tackle the Tamils' long-standing grievances by sharing some power with them.
The ex-fighters' treatment stands in stark contrast to the plight of nearly 300,000 displaced Tamil civilians who are held in overcrowded government camps in the north. U.N. officials have pressed for their release and aid workers fear coming rains could lead to outbreaks of disease.
In Ambepussa, Vinojan, about 80 other children and 32 adults — start their day by hoisting the Sri Lankan flag and singing the national anthem ("Mother Lanka we salute thee! ... Ill-will, hatred, strife all ended...").
They study English and Sinhalese, the language of the country's majority ethnic group, and take classes in plumbing, metalwork, sewing and cooking. They watch TV, listen to music and play cricket, the country's favorite sport.
Maj. Herman Fernando, who runs the camp, said he is trying to get the children into nearby schools.
Most in Ambepussa are expected to go free after a year of rehabilitation and psychiatric evaluation.
UNICEF, the U.N. Children's Fund, said the kids in Ambepussa appeared well treated.
Spokeswoman Sarah Crowe looked forward to them rejoining their families and communities, saying: "These children have been deprived of their childhood and will need all possible care and protection to start a new life."
When the violence was worsening in February, UNICEF accused the rebels of stepping up their forcible recruitment of children, saying it had recorded 6,000 such cases since 2003.
Although Vinojan spent his whole life living under rebel control in the remote northern village of Tharmapuram, he managed to have a somewhat normal childhood.
Then, as fighting flared in 2007, the rebels began seeking fresh recruits. A letter arrived summoning Vinojan's older brother, who had just turned 18, to join the fight.
The family hid in the jungle rather than comply. But Vinojan's father couldn't work and his three siblings couldn't go to school, so, at 15, he volunteered to join the rebels in his brother's place, he said.
At first he ferried meals to fighters. Early this year, the family decided to dash across the front lines. The rebels, who were holding tens of thousands of civilians as human shields, opened fire. Vinojan hit the ground and was captured.
"My parents were unaware that I got caught. If they knew, they wouldn't have gone. So I did not shout, I just let them go," he said.
The rebels tied him to a tree and whipped him with a palm branch, he said. Then they gave him 10 days of training and a rifle and sent him and other child soldiers to the front.
"We were all scared and only wanted to retreat," he said, adding that he fired shots randomly but never had a chance to take aim at anyone.
After five days, he deserted and hid with a sympathetic family. He was caught again and sent back to the front, where food was dwindling and fighters went a month without a bath or change of clothes, he said.
The rebels made it clear how further escape attempts would be punished.
"One of my comrades was blindfolded, made to kneel and shot in front of us," Vinojan said.
But the army kept advancing, so the boy tried to escape again, this time hiding in an abandoned house for five days with no food or water before meeting up with an aunt and uncle. Then an artillery shell hit their shelter, killing the uncle, aunt and their 1-year-old baby. Vinojan was in the jungle at the time.
"I cried and then gathered up the remains, put them in a nearby bunker and covered it with soil," Vinojan said.
Finally, on April 20, the army broke through and Vinojan joined tens of thousands of others escaping across a lagoon to government territory.
In Ambepussa, "I wasn't sure if my parents were alive, and they didn't know where I was," he said. Then UNICEF brought them to the camp for a visit.
"When we met we cried," he said, tears in his eyes.
Vinojan once hoped to become a government worker when he grew up.
"But under the circumstances, I don't think too far ahead," he said. "It's enough to be an ordinary man."
courtesy
The Associated Press: Former child soldiers move on in Sri Lanka
AMBEPUSSA, Sri Lanka — Vinojan's boyhood ended when Sri Lanka's civil war reignited.
Fifteen at the time, he says he joined the separatist Tamil Tigers to save his older brother from forcible conscription, and became a reluctant fighter as the rebels fought their last, desperate battles for survival.
Now, having won the war, Sri Lanka is trying to make patriotic citizens out of child soldiers like Vinojan and others who just months ago were fighting against the nation.
Vinojan, who nurses a dark scar on his wrist from a shrapnel wound, is just trying to reclaim what is left of a childhood cut short.
"We wanted to be students. All that was shattered," he said.
About 570 children, some as young as 13, are among an estimated 10,000 captured rebels who have been sent to government rehabilitation camps around the island since the 25-year war for a separate Tamil state ended in May. Tamils are an ethnic minority in the country of 21 million people off the coast of India.
"These are children who were exposed to danger, taken away from their families and deprived of their childhood," said Maj. Gen. Daya Ratnayake, the military official in charge of the camps. "Our hope is to get them back to normal as much as possible."
The former child soldiers say they want simply to be reunited with their families. But some have lost relatives or are still searching for them.
Meanwhile, the government is working to ensure they don't pick up arms again. But it has done little to fulfill its pledge to tackle the Tamils' long-standing grievances by sharing some power with them.
The ex-fighters' treatment stands in stark contrast to the plight of nearly 300,000 displaced Tamil civilians who are held in overcrowded government camps in the north. U.N. officials have pressed for their release and aid workers fear coming rains could lead to outbreaks of disease.
In Ambepussa, Vinojan, about 80 other children and 32 adults — start their day by hoisting the Sri Lankan flag and singing the national anthem ("Mother Lanka we salute thee! ... Ill-will, hatred, strife all ended...").
They study English and Sinhalese, the language of the country's majority ethnic group, and take classes in plumbing, metalwork, sewing and cooking. They watch TV, listen to music and play cricket, the country's favorite sport.
Maj. Herman Fernando, who runs the camp, said he is trying to get the children into nearby schools.
Most in Ambepussa are expected to go free after a year of rehabilitation and psychiatric evaluation.
UNICEF, the U.N. Children's Fund, said the kids in Ambepussa appeared well treated.
Spokeswoman Sarah Crowe looked forward to them rejoining their families and communities, saying: "These children have been deprived of their childhood and will need all possible care and protection to start a new life."
When the violence was worsening in February, UNICEF accused the rebels of stepping up their forcible recruitment of children, saying it had recorded 6,000 such cases since 2003.
Although Vinojan spent his whole life living under rebel control in the remote northern village of Tharmapuram, he managed to have a somewhat normal childhood.
Then, as fighting flared in 2007, the rebels began seeking fresh recruits. A letter arrived summoning Vinojan's older brother, who had just turned 18, to join the fight.
The family hid in the jungle rather than comply. But Vinojan's father couldn't work and his three siblings couldn't go to school, so, at 15, he volunteered to join the rebels in his brother's place, he said.
At first he ferried meals to fighters. Early this year, the family decided to dash across the front lines. The rebels, who were holding tens of thousands of civilians as human shields, opened fire. Vinojan hit the ground and was captured.
"My parents were unaware that I got caught. If they knew, they wouldn't have gone. So I did not shout, I just let them go," he said.
The rebels tied him to a tree and whipped him with a palm branch, he said. Then they gave him 10 days of training and a rifle and sent him and other child soldiers to the front.
"We were all scared and only wanted to retreat," he said, adding that he fired shots randomly but never had a chance to take aim at anyone.
After five days, he deserted and hid with a sympathetic family. He was caught again and sent back to the front, where food was dwindling and fighters went a month without a bath or change of clothes, he said.
The rebels made it clear how further escape attempts would be punished.
"One of my comrades was blindfolded, made to kneel and shot in front of us," Vinojan said.
But the army kept advancing, so the boy tried to escape again, this time hiding in an abandoned house for five days with no food or water before meeting up with an aunt and uncle. Then an artillery shell hit their shelter, killing the uncle, aunt and their 1-year-old baby. Vinojan was in the jungle at the time.
"I cried and then gathered up the remains, put them in a nearby bunker and covered it with soil," Vinojan said.
Finally, on April 20, the army broke through and Vinojan joined tens of thousands of others escaping across a lagoon to government territory.
In Ambepussa, "I wasn't sure if my parents were alive, and they didn't know where I was," he said. Then UNICEF brought them to the camp for a visit.
"When we met we cried," he said, tears in his eyes.
Vinojan once hoped to become a government worker when he grew up.
"But under the circumstances, I don't think too far ahead," he said. "It's enough to be an ordinary man."
courtesy
The Associated Press: Former child soldiers move on in Sri Lanka
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No defence ties with China, says Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has 'very close' and 'very special' ties with China but there is unlikely to be a defence relationship between Beijing and Colombo, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollogama has said.
Asked how he saw the China engagement going, Bogollogama told Singapore's Straits Times newspaper Saturday: 'It is very close and I call it very special because they have supported our economic agenda and us politically in the Security Council.'
He added: 'China-Sri Lanka relationship is very special and a growing one.'
The minister was asked if there would ever be a Chinese naval base in the port of Hambantota that China is building in southern Sri Lanka.
'They have not asked,' Bogollogama said. 'There are no such indications that have come our way. Why should we go by fiction and hypothesis on matters of importance? If they wanted to ask, they would have by now.'
Could there be a defence relationship with China?
The minister replied: 'Not really. Because I see India is our immediate neighbor and our close friend. That also is a unique relationship. India has been very supportive of our efforts for seeking sustainable peace in Sri Lanka. We are quite pleased with the current defence make up of Sri Lanka.'
Bogotollogama said Sri Lanka was headed 'towards the direction of greater reconciliation and healing' following the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May this year.
'We have already started refugee settlement. It is an opportune time for the Jaffna Tamil community and its friends abroad to look at Sri Lanka again. The president's first call after the war was for the Sri Lankan community abroad to come back and be part of Sri Lankas' integration. This is something our friends abroad should pick up and respond to.'
The minister indicated delays in settling the hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians interned in military-controlled camps in Sri Lanka's north following the end of the war by saying they could go home only when the infrastructure in their original places of abode was ready.
'For that we are accelerating our efforts with support from the international community. The process can be accelerated and expedited which, we believe, will be (completed) early next year.'
He said according to current estimates, some 100,000 of the estimated over 250,000 inmates in the camps would be settled by the end of this year. 'That is a good number to initially target and realize.'
Sri Lankan authorities had earlier given the international community to understand that they needed only 180 days to settle people in the camps.
Bogollogama said there were 10,000 former LTTE cadres currently in camps and that they 'should come out well and play a useful role in their own lives and in society'.
But he quickly added that if they had committed grave crimes, 'that lot we can always deal with due process of law'.
courtesy:
No defence ties with China, says Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has 'very close' and 'very special' ties with China but there is unlikely to be a defence relationship between Beijing and Colombo, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollogama has said.
Asked how he saw the China engagement going, Bogollogama told Singapore's Straits Times newspaper Saturday: 'It is very close and I call it very special because they have supported our economic agenda and us politically in the Security Council.'
He added: 'China-Sri Lanka relationship is very special and a growing one.'
The minister was asked if there would ever be a Chinese naval base in the port of Hambantota that China is building in southern Sri Lanka.
'They have not asked,' Bogollogama said. 'There are no such indications that have come our way. Why should we go by fiction and hypothesis on matters of importance? If they wanted to ask, they would have by now.'
Could there be a defence relationship with China?
The minister replied: 'Not really. Because I see India is our immediate neighbor and our close friend. That also is a unique relationship. India has been very supportive of our efforts for seeking sustainable peace in Sri Lanka. We are quite pleased with the current defence make up of Sri Lanka.'
Bogotollogama said Sri Lanka was headed 'towards the direction of greater reconciliation and healing' following the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May this year.
'We have already started refugee settlement. It is an opportune time for the Jaffna Tamil community and its friends abroad to look at Sri Lanka again. The president's first call after the war was for the Sri Lankan community abroad to come back and be part of Sri Lankas' integration. This is something our friends abroad should pick up and respond to.'
The minister indicated delays in settling the hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians interned in military-controlled camps in Sri Lanka's north following the end of the war by saying they could go home only when the infrastructure in their original places of abode was ready.
'For that we are accelerating our efforts with support from the international community. The process can be accelerated and expedited which, we believe, will be (completed) early next year.'
He said according to current estimates, some 100,000 of the estimated over 250,000 inmates in the camps would be settled by the end of this year. 'That is a good number to initially target and realize.'
Sri Lankan authorities had earlier given the international community to understand that they needed only 180 days to settle people in the camps.
Bogollogama said there were 10,000 former LTTE cadres currently in camps and that they 'should come out well and play a useful role in their own lives and in society'.
But he quickly added that if they had committed grave crimes, 'that lot we can always deal with due process of law'.
courtesy:
No defence ties with China, says Sri Lanka
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Sri Lanka denies Tamil Tiger chief executed after surrender
From correspondents in Colombo
THE Sri Lankan government rejected fresh accusations that Tamil Tiger separatist leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was executed after surrendering to security forces.
Sri Lanka's military announced on May 18 the killing of Prabhakaran, who led a 37-year campaign for an independent homeland for minority Tamils in the majority Sinhalese country.
The Sri Lanka Guardian, a US-based website that describes itself as an independent news organisation, reported over the weekend that Prabhakaran had surrendered, but was tortured and killed by the army. It cited three sources, including a bodyguard who said he had escaped the final offensive and fled the country as well as officials from the Sri Lankan intelligence service and the defence ministry.
But in a statement, the defence ministry said there was a campaign to publish "concocted stories" in a bid to drag Sri Lanka's military before war crimes tribunals.
"A new version of the consequences that led to Prabhakaran's death has been concocted, involving the reputation of senior officers who gave leadership to the final battles against Tiger terrorists," the ministry said.
Both the Sri Lankan military and the Tiger rebels have previously said that Prabhakaran fought to the end.
His body was shown on national television a day later, with a deep cut to his skull. The cut has not been officially explained, but the army said he was killed in a gunbattle with government forces.
The latest claim came as a US State Department report said that both Sri Lankan government forces and Tamil rebels may have violated the laws of war this year during the culmination of their decades-old armed conflict.
Among the claims detailed in the report was the accusation that, in the final few days of fighting, senior Tamil Tiger leaders reached a surrender agreement with government forces but were then executed.
However, the report made no mention of any surrender by Prabhakaran.
Sri Lanka, which has rejected the US report as baseless, said a propaganda campaign had been launched with the "sinister motive of trying to take the security forces to a war crimes tribunal".
The United Nations has said that up to 7000 civilians perished in the first four months of this year while up to 100,000 people may have died during the entire conflict.
courtesy
Sri Lanka news updated 24 hours day: The Lanka Academic
Sri Lanka denies Tamil Tiger chief executed after surrender | World Breaking News | News.com.au
From correspondents in Colombo
THE Sri Lankan government rejected fresh accusations that Tamil Tiger separatist leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was executed after surrendering to security forces.
Sri Lanka's military announced on May 18 the killing of Prabhakaran, who led a 37-year campaign for an independent homeland for minority Tamils in the majority Sinhalese country.
The Sri Lanka Guardian, a US-based website that describes itself as an independent news organisation, reported over the weekend that Prabhakaran had surrendered, but was tortured and killed by the army. It cited three sources, including a bodyguard who said he had escaped the final offensive and fled the country as well as officials from the Sri Lankan intelligence service and the defence ministry.
But in a statement, the defence ministry said there was a campaign to publish "concocted stories" in a bid to drag Sri Lanka's military before war crimes tribunals.
"A new version of the consequences that led to Prabhakaran's death has been concocted, involving the reputation of senior officers who gave leadership to the final battles against Tiger terrorists," the ministry said.
Both the Sri Lankan military and the Tiger rebels have previously said that Prabhakaran fought to the end.
His body was shown on national television a day later, with a deep cut to his skull. The cut has not been officially explained, but the army said he was killed in a gunbattle with government forces.
The latest claim came as a US State Department report said that both Sri Lankan government forces and Tamil rebels may have violated the laws of war this year during the culmination of their decades-old armed conflict.
Among the claims detailed in the report was the accusation that, in the final few days of fighting, senior Tamil Tiger leaders reached a surrender agreement with government forces but were then executed.
However, the report made no mention of any surrender by Prabhakaran.
Sri Lanka, which has rejected the US report as baseless, said a propaganda campaign had been launched with the "sinister motive of trying to take the security forces to a war crimes tribunal".
The United Nations has said that up to 7000 civilians perished in the first four months of this year while up to 100,000 people may have died during the entire conflict.
courtesy
Sri Lanka news updated 24 hours day: The Lanka Academic
Sri Lanka denies Tamil Tiger chief executed after surrender | World Breaking News | News.com.au
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90,000 Displaced Tamils Resettled in Lanka
Nearly 90,000 out of the 2.88 lakh Tamils displaced during the ethnic conflict in northern Sri Lanka have been sent back home under the government's resettlement initiatives, an official report said today.
The number of displaced civilians in the relief camps in the North has now reduced to 197,255 from 2.88 lakh when the war with LTTE ended in May this year.
Of the released civilians, 70,492 were being resettled in their places of origin by yesterday, an official report said.
The group included the clergy, expectant mothers and university students who were resettled in several districts.
A majority of them returned to their villages in the Jaffna district, the report said adding a group of about 3000 was dispatched to Jaffna yesterday for resettlement.
A total of 41,685 Internally Displaced Person's (IDPs) were released last week for being resettled in Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaittivu and Killinochi.
Filed At: Oct 27, 2009 15:16 IST , Edited At: Oct 27, 2009 15:16 IST
FILED IN: Sri Lanka , Sri Lankan Tamils
news.outlookindia.com | 90,000 Displaced Tamils Resettled in Lanka
Nearly 90,000 out of the 2.88 lakh Tamils displaced during the ethnic conflict in northern Sri Lanka have been sent back home under the government's resettlement initiatives, an official report said today.
The number of displaced civilians in the relief camps in the North has now reduced to 197,255 from 2.88 lakh when the war with LTTE ended in May this year.
Of the released civilians, 70,492 were being resettled in their places of origin by yesterday, an official report said.
The group included the clergy, expectant mothers and university students who were resettled in several districts.
A majority of them returned to their villages in the Jaffna district, the report said adding a group of about 3000 was dispatched to Jaffna yesterday for resettlement.
A total of 41,685 Internally Displaced Person's (IDPs) were released last week for being resettled in Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaittivu and Killinochi.
Filed At: Oct 27, 2009 15:16 IST , Edited At: Oct 27, 2009 15:16 IST
FILED IN: Sri Lanka , Sri Lankan Tamils
news.outlookindia.com | 90,000 Displaced Tamils Resettled in Lanka
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Resettlement of IDPs in Lanka's east completed: Army
Colombo, Oct 29 (PTI) Sri Lankan authorities today claimed that all displaced Tamils from the country's eastern provinces have been resettled back in their homes.
All the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) centres and Transit camps have been closed after people were moved to their homes under 'Eastern Re-awakening' project, the army said.
An army statement said the final batch, comprising 9,524 displaced persons belonging to 3,217 families from the eastern province who had been living in the IDP centers in Vavuniya, had been sent back to their homes.
The resettlement comes as Colombo is facing immense pressure from US, UN, EU nations and international rights body to repatriate tens of thousands of people displaced from northern and eastern provinces back to their homes.
Army with the assistance of authorities in Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara districts found alternative dwellings for these displaced people
fullstory
Colombo, Oct 29 (PTI) Sri Lankan authorities today claimed that all displaced Tamils from the country's eastern provinces have been resettled back in their homes.
All the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) centres and Transit camps have been closed after people were moved to their homes under 'Eastern Re-awakening' project, the army said.
An army statement said the final batch, comprising 9,524 displaced persons belonging to 3,217 families from the eastern province who had been living in the IDP centers in Vavuniya, had been sent back to their homes.
The resettlement comes as Colombo is facing immense pressure from US, UN, EU nations and international rights body to repatriate tens of thousands of people displaced from northern and eastern provinces back to their homes.
Army with the assistance of authorities in Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara districts found alternative dwellings for these displaced people
fullstory
