Arrest further suffering of Tamil people, IFT urges International Community

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 February 2005, 08:03 GMT]
"It is sad observe that even the devastation caused by the Tsunami calamity has failed to draw the sympathy of the Sri Lankan government towards the Tamils", noted the Geneva based International Federation of Tamils (IFT), a consortium of more than 150 expatriate Tamil organizations, in a media statement released on the third anniversary of the Oslo-facilitated Cease-Fire Agreement (CFA) and called upon the International Community to recognise the "prevalence of suffering of the Tamil people" and to address immediate measures to prevent "further neglect, deterioration, trauma and suffering under a callous state".

"During the three years of cease-fire, one could observe the failure of the political and military establishment of Sri Lanka to transform itself to a position of meeting the political aspirations of the Tamil people", the IFT release said.

"The refusal of the government to accommodate goodwill visits of foreign dignitaries to the Tsunami affected areas in the northeast, is a manifestation of the ill will and intent of the Sri Lankan state", said the IFT release adding that the Tamil people have not seen any substantial improvement in their war devasted life.

The federation said that the Tamil people have been denied their right to have a governing mechanism to initiate rehabilation, reconstruction and development programmes as promised. "They voted overwhelmingly for an interim administrative mechanism for rehabilitation and development activities at the April 2004 elections. But the Sri Lankan Government has refused to respect this mandate", it noted.

"The Sri Lankan establishment signed this CFA (feb.2002) due to pressure resulting from repeated failures in military operations and catastrophic devastation of the country’s economy. But, the absence of war for nearly three years has enabled the Sinhala forces to rebuild and look for alternatives other than peaceful means", it further noted.

"We call upon the international community to recognise the prevalence of suffering of the Tamil people and their desperation for normal life in their homeland and also the inability and unwillingness of the Government of Sri Lanka to meet the legitimate rights of the Tamil people", the IFT statement said.