Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Sri Lanka's North East

According to the recent National Survey conducted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are more than 800.000 people in Sri Lanka who have been internally displaced. Nearly a million people have sought refugee status in foreign countries. Mainly, there are close to 200.000 Sri Lankan refugees in over 100 refugee camps in Tamil Nadu, India.

According to the recent National Survey conducted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are more than 800.000 people in Sri Lanka who have been internally displaced. Nearly a million people have sought refugee status in foreign countries. Mainly, there are close to 200.000 Sri Lankan refugees in over 100 refugee camps in Tamil Nadu, India. These people fled to South India to escape the civil war in Sri Lanka. During the ethnic conflict, the entire infrastructures in both the north and east were totally destroyed. 150,000 houses were destroyed in the Northern Province alone. According to the survey carried out by international organizations, there are  1.5 million landmines in the north-east.
Before the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE on 22 February 2002,  the country was divided into two. The people of the north were prohibited from traveling to the south, and vice versa.
Resettlement in war-torn areas is extremely difficult, because of the lack of funds, landmines and the destruction that has taken place for more than 20 years. It is estimated that at least 6 years will be necessary for the safe de-mining of the war-torn areas.
In the last few years, Sri Lanka has received assistance from foreign donor agencies such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, Japan, USA, UK, France, Italy, Sweden, Canada, Norway and other foreign countries in order to obtain financial technical assistance to rehabilitate the areas affected by the civil war in the north-east.
The World Food Organization assists by supplying large quantities of food to eradicate malnutrition among children and pregnant mothers. The World Food Program's project supplying food for work was very helpful in rehabilitating the facilities of the infrastructure. These programs help provide the services of health care workers and teachers to the Tamil people. The UNHCR plays a very important role in providing assistance to these people, especially in the field of resettlement. In the last 2 years, more than 40,000 families have resettled in their places of origin.
 
 
The Up-Country Tamils - The forgotten Minority

The Up-Country Tamils (so called Indian Tamils) are a minority that is concentrated in a clearly identifiable region with a distinct historical and cultural background from the Tamils of the northeast. 100 years ago, the British Colonists brought them as workers on the tea planteations in Sri Lanka. Although the Up-Country Tamils have inhabited the same region for over a century, they gradually lost their political rights and freedom.

The government curtailed citizenship and voting rights for the Up-Country Tamils through a series of legislation. Where once they were able to send 7 elected representatives to the parliament, their representation was subsequently reduced to a state where the approximately 1.2 Million Up-Country Tamils no longer have a single elected representative in parliament.
The loss of political rights and electoral representation of the Up-Country Tamils is largely due to their fragmentation, resulting from the artificial manner in which administrative boundaries were created and transformed. For this reason, the Up-Country people are asking to merge the three provinces  largely inhabited by Up-Country Tamils (and where they are a clear majority) into a single province. The creation of the proposed new province would safeguard the political rights of the Up-Country People, while also creating the conditions for the development of their culture, traditions, basic democratic rights and social progress.

Günther Rautz

07.12.2004