The International Community and Sri Lanka - The Expat Blog

The International Community and Sri Lanka

Ayeshea Perera - Friday, May 29, 2009 3:45 PM

Disclaimer: the author knows that she is susceptible to being accused of doing too many Sri Lanka posts. 

There has been a strong international outcry against the Sri Lankan government for its handling of the humanitarian crisis in the Vanni. The UNHCR recently adopted a draft resolution calling for an investigation into possible war crimes and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently warned the Sri Lankan government that it would have to "understand the consequences of its actions". The US and UK raised some subtle objections to a IMF loan to Sri Lanka on the basis that the government had refused to respond to a call to cease hostilities and save civilians trapped with the LTTE. The issue has received much attention globally with a number of columns in influential publications calling for a boycott of key Sri Lankan exports such as garments and tea.

This outpouring of concern and anger is both understandable and needed. The scant regard that the government paid to the thousands of civilian lives during its last push to defeat the LTTE was more than a little disturbing. But in all honesty its a little hard to swallow. What were you doing, I want to ask these countries, when Israel bombed Libya, killing thousands of people and destroying enough infrastructure to set it back by fifty years? It did nothing. Then are we supposed to ignore the fact that the civilian casualties from US air strikes in Afganistan are mounting? Or that the ground situation in Iraq has improved very little?

The fact is that this hypocritical attitude by the international community rings hollow. While it is easy to stand from a pedestal of higher power and shout down at a third world country like Sri Lanka, it does not make those words very credible. Nor its intentions. Should anyone believe the international community when they are doing more of the same?

This is not to take away from the severity of what has happened and what continues to happen in Sri Lanka. All human lives are sacred. And that precisely is what we must not lose sight of. The civilian death in the Vanni is the same as that in the Gaza strip. And until the international community is willing to truly show that it believes that and act on it, its words will mean nothing. 

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14 Comment

From Charles Horenegae

May 30, 2009 3:24 AM
WELL SAID:)

From TN Tamil

May 30, 2009 4:10 AM
Comparing Sri Lanka with Iraq is incorrect. Sri Lanka kills its own citizens and expect them to continue to be its citizens. Saddam killed Kurds and the west implemented a nofly zone and a Kurdish autonomous region. Milosevic killed Albanians and Kosovo was created by the west. Mahinda kills Tamils and Sri Lanka is still 1 country? Has the west lost its power?

From Sailan Moore

May 30, 2009 4:20 AM
Excellent article. Hits the nail right on the head. How can anyone say its the wrong comparison? human beings are human beings. Our hats off to you Ms. Perera!

From King

May 30, 2009 4:55 AM
The world should look at the brutal killing was done by those rebels for more than 30 years in sri lanka and defined border village crisis for majority of the community of sri lanka. those people who live ths side live with no tomorrow because brutal killers anytime strike them anywhere. dying of inocent people during this war is not accepted, but who created such a mess. why those rebels holt those people? these are very simple situation once look back to the history of human society. The point is the world is blind with the all problem we had in sri lanka. the world (specially westerners) are influenced by those supporters in big time and misleaded them the way rebel misleaded innocent boys and girls to join rebel army. The main obstacle is over. now the whole world including those crying for VP (rebel leader)collect money and send to sri lanka to help their people. that what they cried for. The world should take the sri lankan situation as an example to crush unnecessary movement which make a day to day unrestness to every citizen. those who have idea of boycotting sri lanka should think again who will suffer most, not Sri lankan president or any rich powerfull people, again people who suffered enough with this crisis for 30 years. Remember this!!!!!!!

From Tharu Bansa

May 30, 2009 6:59 AM
Double standards of Western members has already polarized UNHRC. What do the Western colonizers know about Human Rights than Asian Leaders? Did anyone see - UK/US going inch my inch to minimize civil casualties? - provide any housing to displaced civilians? - put their lives at risk to provide safe passage to fleeing civilians? - dramatic images of exodus of civilians running away from Taliban or Saddam? No, only Sri Lanka did all that, while we saw 'shock and awe' in Iraq.

From ram

May 30, 2009 3:15 PM
what you are saying seems sensible but, in reality srilankan situation is very different from situations in Afghanistan and iraq(in srilanka it is killing it's own citizens and not obeying any international human rights law and you must remember, srilankan have committed countless atrocities against tamils in the past since 1983 but, i can challenge you that, there was no one prosecuted or brought to justice. this is the main worrying situation and this is where srilanka is standing away from western countries)srilankan Judicial system is more and more politicalized and government always try to brush all the allegations in to the carpet. but in contrast you have more transparent and free judicial systems in place where they normally prosecute perpetrators of any crime. what srilankan have done is a systematic killing of it's own peoples to suppress the aspirations of tamil peoples, this will give a backlash if it fail to fulfill the aspirations... i think this is what will happen

From Ayeshea Perera

May 30, 2009 3:48 PM
Ram, I know the Sri Lankan situation is different in that, as you say, the civilian casualties have been its own citizens. But a life is a life. And because the Sri Lankan government kills its own citizens, does that make Israel for example better, because it is killing Palestinian civilians? Whatever the reason for it, the scant regard for civilian life is not something that can be condoned anywhere. Nor can we say that one situation is "worse" than another. Like sailan says, human beings are human beings!

From Southern Son

May 31, 2009 1:27 AM
Ayeshea, your name sounds like you're Sri Lankan, but after writing an article like the one above, I hope you don't consider yourself to be a patriot! If you're not Sri Lankan, why don't you mind your own business? "This outpouring of concern and anger is both understandable and needed."... where were your two cents when the LTTE massacred innocent Sinhalese/Muslim villagers in the North, through suicide bombers in Colombo? YOU ARE DESPICABLE!

From Ayeshea Perera

May 31, 2009 3:28 PM
The LTTE were a terrorist organisation. No one expected anything from them but despicable acts. The government is elected by the people and as such we are entitled to question what they do especially with regards to protecting the people they are the representatives of. (and yes they represent even the Tamil people in the North) Also FYI I am Sri Lankan. And really, if pointing out that the killing of innocent civilians is wrong is unpatriotic in your opinion "southern son", then I wear that tag with pride.

From pularika

June 2, 2009 2:15 AM
Excellent article Ayeshea. Just one clarifying point though. The UNHRC did not pass a resolution calling for an investigation for possible war crimes (amongst other things). The Swiss draft resolution which contained such clauses was outvoted, and a counter-Sri Lankan draft which basically praises the Sri Lankan government and condemns the LTTE was adopted instead. (see http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/11/docs/L1.Rev.2.doc for the text). This was supported primarily by the global south, defeating the EU/western effort. Yes the global north is guilty of hypocritic diplomacy, as is the global south. Any country first look to their self-interest and then to international law and human rights. This is why it is important that international human rights mechanisms are as far removed from national interests as possible, but then that's another debate. I always find it funny how Sri Lankans like 'southern son' blindly criticise and lable Sri Lankans who are critical of government as 'unpatriotic terrorists' and tell all non Sri Lankans concerned with what is happening in the country to 'mind their business'. By their logic, Mahinda Rajapaksa was a terrorist when as an opposition MP, he was critical of the Sri Lankan govt. Also by their definition, the Chinese and Pakistanis who supplied the govt. with arms to defeat the LTTE should have just 'minded their own business' instead. You can't have it both ways 'southern son'. I leave it to you to decide whether the lable 'unpatriotic terrorist' or 'hypocritical interferer' fits me better.

From pularika

June 2, 2009 7:03 PM
Oh and by the way 'southern son', where were YOUR two cents when "the LTTE massacred innocent Sinhalese/Muslim villagers in the North, through suicide bombers in Colombo?" (contradictory as that question seems). I don't recall a 'southern son' going public and denouncing that violence... was it too far removed from your 'southern' comfort zone for you to really care? There are some people (Sri Lankan and non-Sri Lankan) who are capable of identifying injustice, violence and discrimination and standing against it whoever the perpetrator or victim. They will stand up for you if God forbid, you are a victim of violence in the south, whether the perpetrators are the government (just think back to 1989) or a terrorist organisation. But they will only be effective if people like you don't shoot them down without even pausing to think about the implications of what they are saying.

From Pankaj

June 11, 2009 9:04 AM
US will be upset for very obvious reasons; Sri Lanka has just reduced one of it's biggest arms customer. Damn, a loss of multi-billion dollar client. How can bloody Sri-Lankan government do this to the US? We are free to test all our new weapons in the middle east countries. We can invade any damn country just to make our military bases in that area but how the hell a third world country like Sri-Lanka think of killing our clients? It's all about money Melissa. Nothing else! http://choosingmyconfessions.wordpress.com/

From Pankaj

June 11, 2009 9:05 AM
US will be upset for very obvious reasons; Sri Lanka has just reduced one of it's biggest arms customer. Damn, a loss of multi-billion dollar client. How can bloody Sri-Lankan government do this to the US? We are free to test all our new weapons in the middle east countries. We can invade any damn country just to make our military bases in that area but how the hell a third world country like Sri-Lanka think of killing our clients? It's all about money Ayeshea. Nothing else! http://choosingmyconfessions.wordpress.com/

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August 29, 2009 4:44 PM
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