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Press release on Vaharai situation

Force Vaharai people out of their home or provide safe haven in their land - what is international community’s response?

One doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out that the GoSL is intend on taking control of Vaharai. In this pursuit the GoSL has broken international standards and ignored humanitarian appeals.

Targeting civilian areas

Trincomalee political head, S Elilan, had taken the ICRC representative for Batticaloa, Ms Kashesi Maryam, to the refugee welfare centres in Vaharai as early as mid-October 2006. Elilan gave the ICRC representative the coordinates of these centres and requested that they be treated as safe-haven. The welfare centres identified by Elilan to Maryam are the surrounds of, Vaharai hospital, Vammivadduvan school, Patchenai school, Kathiraveli school and Veruhal temple. Ms Kashesi Maryam had given these coordinates to the SLA and had requested that these locations be treated as safe-havens. This fact was then relayed back to Elilan by the ICRC representative Maryam.

Indeed the 89 civilian deaths in Vaharai since then caused by Sri Lankan artillery fire were exactly in these locations whose coordinates were given to the SLA by Elilan through the ICRC representative.

These attacks therefore contravene Article 13.2 of the Geneva Convention Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-international Armed Conflicts - Additional Protocol II (GC-P2) which says,

The civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attack. Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited.

Forced displacement

The present Vaharai population consists of refugees from Sampur to the north as well as Vaharai residents who have lived there for generations. The GoSL is intent on displacing even these local residents of Vaharai through terrorizing them. The ulterior motive of the GoSL to flush the civilians from Vaharai therefore contravenes Article 17.2 of GC-P2 as well which says,

Civilians shall not be compelled to leave their own territory for reasons connected with the conflict.

Many of the people in Vaharai are frightened to move into GoSL controlled areas. In particular, they fear the Karuna paramilitary group because the people from Vaharai will be viewed as LTTE supporters. These same people, terrorized by the GoSL artillery fire, are now being forced to displace again. Is the international community’s response is to force them into GoSL area despite their fear of the Karuna group?

Failure to provide safe route

Even when the civilians make the decision to leave Vaharai out of fear, the ICRC so far has not created a safe route for them to move out. Indeed people are taking risky routes by sea and jungles, resulting in loss of lives.

Repeated requests for safe-haven

Requests for safe-haven in Vaharai area has been made by the LTTE on several occasions since the initial request made by Elilan as early as mid October.

In November 2006, Elilan and Batticaloa Politcal Head Thayamohan met Kilinochchi UNHCR Head, M Kajdamcaj, in Kilinochchi and requested the same.

On December 16, they met the Kilinochchi UNHCR Head again and requested the same again.(LTTE requests ICRC, UNHCR and SLMM to declare safe-haven in Vaharai )

TNA Members of parliament have also appealed for a safe-haven in Vaharai.

LTTE is presently seeking further meetings with the heads of UNHCR and the ICRC to seek their immediate response to this longstanding request from the LTTE.

Lack of permanent presence of any international agencies

Another fact not well known is that there are no permanent international agency sub-offices anywhere in the LTTE administered parts of the east, both in Trincomalee and Batticaloa. Request for permanent sub-offices of the ICRC in Vaharai and Kokkadichcholai, made as early as September, by Batticaloa Political Head, Thayamohan, have also not been heeded to.

What is the response of the international community to the plight of the Vahari people? Force them out to GoSL area where they will face a different type of danger or create safe-haven in their own land and monitor them with permanent presence?

18 December 2006

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