Sri Lanka CS 20N April 16, 2007 Mahncy Mehrotra Noelle Pineda 1
The Conflict 1920s Tension between Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority 1983 Outbreak of civil war between official government and rebel group, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) LTTE major goal is an independent Tamil state in the northern and eastern parts of the island 2002 Both sides sign a ceasefire that gives hope for lasting peace 2005 Again violence erupted between the two sides Since then 4,000 people have died due to this conflict This year the LTTE has said, they were going to, resume their freedom struggle to achieve statehood. BACKGROUNDBEFORE OFFICIAL CIVIL WAR: -Sinhalese Buddhist and Tamil Hindu -Sinhalese believed that the British were favoring Tamil, so after independence Tamil better jobs, positions, etc; some Tamils denied citizenship; -1948 Sri Lanka gain independence from the British; Sinhalese want Tamils to go back to India and begin to colonize Tamil areas (north and east parts of island) -1956s official languages changed from Sinhala and Tamil to Sinhala and English -1958 riots (mass murdering of Tamils) thousands assaulted, 25,000 refugees relocated -1970 Tamil media and literature banned; 1971 University Act that made it very difficult for Tamils to get into universities; later 1970s Tamil people push for separate nation called Tamil Eelam -1981 Sinhalese mob burn down market place in Jaffna (burn down official Tamil newspaper, parliament representative house, public library, etc.) 4 died RESPONOSE TO CEASEFIRE: -Both sides claim to have followed/adhered to the ceasefire, although the government has led multiple military offensives against the LTTE 2
Consequences of Conflict Since the eruption of violence in 1983, 68,000 people have died Sri Lankan national economy destroyed and daily life disrupted Thousands of child soldiers recruited At least 1 million landmines laid CHILD SOLDIERS: -Tamil Tigers have used child soldiers throughout the civil war, some as young as 9 years old a third of recruits are young girls; one 14 year old girl said, If you get caught, they take you back and beat you. Some children die. If you do it twice, they shoot you. In my wing, if someone escaped the whole group was lined up to watch them get beaten. If the person dies, they don't tell you, but we know it happens." -UNICEF has reported that between 2002 and 2005 there was a total of 2,946 child soldier recruits LANDMINES: -Impede the rebuilding of communities and the resettling of families -Between 1995 and 2005 there have been around 200 killed and 1,000 injured 3
Tsunami December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hits Sri Lanka 35,000 killed 443,000 displaced 50,000 houses destroyed 11,000 businesses affected -Was the second worst hit country, after Indonesia 4
Tsunami Relief & The Web Utilized a web-based based relief management system named Sahana Described as, an integrated set of pluggable, web based disaster management applications that provide solutions to large-scale humanitarian problems in the aftermath of a disaster http://demo.sahana.lk/index.php?mod=mpr&act=defaul t Also used for the earthquake in Pakistan in 2005, the mudslide in the Philippines in 2006, and the earthquake in Indonesia in 2006 Won 2006 Free Software Foundation Award for Projects of Social Benefit -Spearheaded by the Lanka Software Foundation and volunteers -Primary Goal: Help alleviate human suffering and help save lives through the efficient use of IT during a disaster -Also deployed by Sarvodaya in 2006, which is Sri Lanka s largest NGO -Award was won by Wikipedia in 2005, beat out OLPC (one laptop per child) program 5
Sarvodaya (Sri Lankan NGO based in Sri Lanka) www.sarvodaya.org Originated in Sri Lanka but as it has grown to cover 34 districts, now started office in US Difficult to see what projects Sarvodaya is actually involved in Titles to different parts of site are actually misleading Propose to tackle multiple large issues but no clear means of method to do so -Show what other issues Sarvodaya is taking on -Go to peace section and show what it says, then go to our vision/objectives and who how vague it is -Go to blog and show how unclear it is 6
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (NGO for Tamil Support) http://www.troonline.org/ Specifically aimed at helping North East Sri Lankans (Tamil people) Based in Sri Lanka but has now accrued the help of several countries (international) Objectives again are very broad and take on too much Programs however are more detailed and actually list specific activities with data -Because has become a more international NGO, website easier to navigate and more clear -Also provides a clear cut program (land mines, education) -Still takes on too much, lofty goals 7
Sri Lankan NGOS Sri Lankan ones are difficult to manuever and get around http://infolanka.com/org/mahila/ http://www.sarvodaya.org/ International ones are easier to get around http://www.asiafoundation.org/locations/srilanka.ht ml Set lofty goals Usually vague and unclear about how to achieve set goals 8
Current Conflict Situation April 12, 2007 Tamil Tigers blamed for the killing of 7 civilians (6 women, 1 man), some reports also blame them for bus bombings during the same week April 14, 2007 Sri Lankan military reports that the Tamil Tigers killed more civilians while targeting two members of the TVMP, the political wing of a renegade faction that broke from the Tigers in 2004 Civilians killed include a 3 year-old boy and a 15 year-old girl The Sri Lankan government is in a very poor condition in the international arena regarding human rights, so they want to tarnish our image." -Tamil Tiger military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan -April 12: Tamil Tigers have not commented on the shooting, but are claiming that the bus bombings are actually the work of the government in their effort to tarnish the Tamil Tiger s image -April 14: Once again the Tigers have claimed that this is just propaganda created by the government against them 9
Question for the Class Look up an NGO doing work in your country. What is their mission statement? Do they have clear information as to what they are doing within the country? How does this affect your opinion of the NGO and their legitimacy? 10