Sri Lanka's rank critical in Failed States Index

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 July 2008, 16:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka, which was positioned 25th among the most failed states during the last two years, ranked this year as the 20th in the Failed States Index (FSI), compiled by the Washington based think-tank, Fund for Peace (FfP) and Foreign Policy magazine. Sri Lanka's score further dropped this year in almost all of the 12 indicators in the FSI. The country was ranked 2nd worst, next to Sudan in one of the indicators, 'Group Grievances'. Five of the eight South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, including Sri Lanka, accounting for one-quarter of the population of South Asia, are placed among the 35 critically failed states of the world in the FSI 2008 index.

Another striking observation is that all the failed states, among the developing countries, have a similarity: they failed in post-colonial state building as they were artificial constructs in the first place and not true states.

Tamils in Sri Lanka have fought for their sovereign rights during the colonial rule against the constitution introduced by the British colonialists and continued their struggle based on the principle of right to self-determination, also in the post-colonial era, justifying the appliance of their right to self-determination under the International Law.

Sri Lanka was ranked 5th in 'Refugees and IDPs', 'Factionalised Elites', 7th in 'Delegitimation of State' and 8th in 'Security Apparatus' in the latest FSI.

It received a total score of 95.6 on a scale of 0-120 where each of the indicators were placed on a scale of 0 to 10 in which 0 being the lowest intensity (most stable) and 10 being the highest intensity (least stable).

Atrocities committed with impunity against specific groups singled out by state authorities for persecution or repression, institutionalized political exclusion, public scapegoating of groups believed to have acquired wealth, status, and stereotypical or nationalistic political rhetoric mark the indicator 'Group Grievances' in which Sri Lanka was ranked 2nd worst, next to Sudan.

Category Indicator 2006 2007 2008 Social 1. Demographic pressures 8.0 7.0 7.0 2. Refugees and IDPs 8.2 8.6 9.0 3. Group Grievance 9.1 9.5 9.8 4. Human Flight 6.7 6.9 6.9 5. Uneven Development 8.0 8.2 8.2 Economic 6. Economy 5.7 6.0 6.0 Political/ Military 7. Delegitimisation of State 8.6 8.9 9.2 8. Public Services 7.0 6.5 6.6 9. Human Rights 7.2 7.5 8.0 10. Security Apparatus 8.5 8.7 9.3 11. Factionalized Elites 8.9 9.2 9.5 12. External Intervention 6.5 6.1 6.1 Totals 92.4 93.1 95.6 Rank 25 25 20

FfP is an independent educational, research, and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to prevent war and alleviate the conditions that cause war. Since 1996, it has specialized primarily on reducing conflict stemming from weak and failing states.

"The world’s weakest states aren’t just a danger to themselves. They can threaten the progress and stability of countries half a world away," says the introductory text of the Foreign Policy magazine, which published the scores that are based on tens of thousands of articles from different sources and reviewed by experts.

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Fund for Peace:

Failed States Index Scores 2008