By Wajid Ali Syed – Washington Correspondent for Asian Tribune
Washington, (Asiantribune.com): The Senate Foreign Relations Committee issued a joint statement today to mark the end of fighting in Sri Lanka with the government's victory over the LTTE.
Committee chairman John Kerry along with other members stated, “We welcome the news that Sri Lanka’s long-running civil war has been brought to a close. For the past twenty-six years, the people of Sri Lanka have suffered enormously from a conflict that appeared intractable. Some 70,000 were killed, many more injured, and countless others were uprooted and forced to flee the violence. In recent months, civilians in the north-eastern part of the island have faced terrible hardship, and exceptionally difficult conditions still persist for hundreds of thousands that have been internally displaced. The scale of the suffering has been obscured by denial of access to humanitarian workers, journalists, and most other outside observers."
The statement further says, “Today can be a turning point for the people of Sri Lanka. The government has a chance to forge a long-term political solution, one that acknowledges the legitimate aspirations of all Sri Lankans, including Sinhalese, Tamils, and other groups. This means taking steps toward reconciliation and justice, including devolution of power to local bodies as provided for by the constitution of Sri Lanka. It will not be easy, but we are looking to the leaders of the Government of Sri Lanka to move the country forward in peace after more than a quarter-century of conflict."
The Committee urged the government of Sri Lanka to take steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis of internally displaced persons by facilitating humanitarian access to the government camps.
- Asian Tribune -
Comments
Mr. Kerry staed that "the
Mr. Kerry staed that "the scale of the suffering has been obscured by denial of access to humanitarian workers,...."
What did the humanitarian workers do when they were given access after the tsunami. They worked to make trenches for LTTE terrorists.
What did US govt do? You cut off military aid to fight terrorism.
I rest my case Mr. Kerry.
Mr. Kerry's statement again
Mr. Kerry's statement again displays his own and the Senate FRC's ignorance of Sri Lanka in general and the Tamils in particular. His statement infers that the hardships have been brought on by the Lankan GOVERNMENT?? He makes broad statements that are unworthy of the US Senate.
Come , come, Mr. Kerry you need to be reeducated about Sri Lanka. The humanitarian workers who had been given access for years have actually diverted the funds, expertise and energies to assisting the LTTE's war effort. The clear evidence of what has gone on is what is preventing the GOSL from giving the access that it had so readily given after the tsunami and which has been abused by the humanitarian workers.
Tamils of Sri Lanka's South live in an environment that demonstrates to anyone who is willing to look through unbiased and preconditioned eyes that they have a good life, as good as the best that Sri Lanka has to offer in the South. Anything bad is because of the suicide terror war inflicted on the South by the North's LTTE.
So, Mr. Kerry, the Tamils of Sri Lanka are not brought to a scale of suffering by the Sri Lankan Govt.,, but by its own LTTE leaders and their supporters both in Sri Lanka and abroad who believed that enslavement and unquestioning support to their outdated, dead cause of separatism could be brought to fruition.
The US's biased view of the situation in Sri Lanka is sadly demonstrated to continue unabated by Senator Kelly's statement.
Correction to my post: para
Correction to my post:
para 3 should read "un-preconditioned eyes".
AML
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