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“The dreams of peace and normalcy after cease fire have all been shattered”

Representatives form the Union of welfare organization of displaced, Jaffna district met with Mr.S.P.Tamilselvan, Head of the LTTE Political Division today 22 December 2004 at the Peace Secretariat in connection with their plight in the welfare centers for more than 15 years due to displacement caused by military occupation of their natural habitats which come under the High Security Zones (HSZ).

They narrated the ordeals they are subjected to as ‘displaced persons’ in their own homeland, forced to live under squalid conditions in the welfare centers depending solely on the hand-outs without proper livelihood. Farmers who have lost their farmlands inheritaed from their forefathers, fishermen who are denied access to their seas, all had tales of woes to tell. They requested the Political Head to take into cognizance the responsibility that the LTTE has as the sole representatives of the Tamil people in the context of the Tamil collective mandate, to take meaningful steps to resolve the problems of the displaced persons.

The representatives reiterated that immediate action through any means is the need of the day and unequivocally expressed their readiness to support any moves the LTTE deems fit to take under the mitigating circumstances.

English version of the memorandum submitted by the union is appended below:

Mr. S.P Tamilselvan,
Head of the Political Divition,
Liberation Tigers of Tamil eelam,

Dear Sir,

We, the people displaced from Valikamam North in the Jaffna district are languishing for the last 15 years in welfare centers suffering untold hardships and misery.

We are a people who worked hard and lived with prosperity in our soil. Because of military occupation we lost our dwellings, farm-lands and the sea and struggling in the welfare centers without livelihood. One generation has been destined to continue with denial of access to their homestead and the next generation has not yet seen theirs.

We have been engaged in many a demonstration during the past to free ourselves form this tragedy. Time has passed in vain without our realizing any benefits. It is at this frustrating point, the cease fire agreement and the political negotiations began.

We believed that our live would be resurrected during this peace time. We also believed that talks would recommence on the basis of the Interim Self Governing Authority proposals submitted by our sole representatives, the Liberation Tigers. We continued to live with fantasy dreams of our own homestead; but nothing happened.

It is a story of continued disappointment and misery. We feel that the Sinhala government and the majoritarian chauvinistic forces are preparing themselves to impose on us another war. This has shattered our hopes and pushed us to the fringe of frustration.

As our representatives, we request of you to take meaningful steps to recommence the talks on the basis of the ISGA by bringing about the necessary international pressure on the governmnet.

We also wish to inform you that in the event of these means failing, we fear, our life would enter into oblivion again. To face that and negate such a situation, it has become inevitable that we engage in mass demonstrations against the government.

President,
Unin of welfaire organization of displaced, Jaffna district,

22 December 2004

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