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Voices from Vaharai

“It is always the Sri Lankan army that is shelling our homes. Our life is now in the jungle. If we sit down to cook and shells are flying over our heads. It will fall on our heads too. We are open to rain with no roof. No one comes to inquire about our situation. We have lost our homes, our arms and our legs. We cannot work. We are fishermen. If we are to take the axe and go to forest to work what are we to do. We have no place to rest our body. How are we to live?”

Ratnasingam

“Government is preventing food coming here. Under the rain we have no place to even sit down. Our little huts are flooded.”

Jeyavathy

“Dirt and clean things are all in one little hut. Flies come and there is illness. How can we care for our children in this? It is very hard.

We have lost everything. No medicine here. Sick people have to die.

Army must vacate our villages. We must go back to our villages. We must earn and we must eat”.

Vallipuram

“Army shells and we run. The Sinhalese are doing so much injustice to us. The agencies don’t give us much. What they give is not enough to eat for one day.

We don’t even have a cent. How can we put a roof?

Why do the Tamils suffer this fate?

Is life only for the Sinhalese people?”

Niranjani

“We have to take children to school under rain and under shelling. We run, we lie down. My husband is injured. I have two girls. Children are very frightened. They cannot go to school. ”

22 November 2006

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