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Media Release April 22, 2009
Tamil Civilians Surge Past The Walls of Tiger Terrorist Hell To Freedom
Mass Exodus: The Tamil civilians of the Vanni who were forced to uproot themselves from their villages and withdraw by the retreating Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) also known as the Tamil Tigers, were compelled to endure severe hardships for nearly an year, till such time as Sri Lanka’s security forces breached the last of the earthen bunds of the Tiger Hell in Puthumathalan on April 20th. These displaced civilians were taxed in many ways by the Tigers who forcibly exploited their labour to improve their fortifications and even pay blood taxes by giving up family members to replace the fallen cadres to be used on the front lines to protect the Tiger leadership that was holding on to the tiny sliver of land in the hope that the pro-Tiger Diaspora in the west would secure their release, to continue with their terrorism, chasing the mythical goal of a mono-ethnic fascist separate state called “Eelam” to be carved out of Sri Lanka. No sooner the last barrier of Tiger Hell fell, these civilians required to form a human shield for the Tiger fighters broke loose and surged past the breached bund in unending columns to reach freedom and safety in government controlled areas under the protection of the Sri Lankan military.
According
to the latest statistics, almost 62000 men, women and children (who escaped
being snatched by the Tiger child recruiters) arrived in government controlled
areas during the last 48 hours, adding to the 65000 who had earlier escaped
from Tiger terror, leaving another 10-12 thousand displaced civilians yet to be
rescued. They came with what little they
had tied in bundles, braving Tamil Tiger bullets aimed at them and risking
attacks launched by three suicide bombers to stop them, rushing onward leaving
their dead behind. These attacks by the
Tamil Tigers on the escaping civilians has been confirmed by UN officials as
well
as human rights agencies that had access to the hostages who reached
safety.
Tamil
Tiger Demands for a Ceasefire and Negotiations:
Much
too late for any ceasefire or talks, as it has been the usual strategy of the
Tiger terrorists to buy time to re-group, re-arm and re-commence hostilities
whenever such an arrangement was agreed to during the past 26 years. The Sri Lankan authorities designated certain
areas as ‘safe zones’ for civilians where no fire would be directed, but each
time the Tamil Tigers moved into these ‘no fire zones’ and directed attacks on
the Sri Lankan forces using their heavy artillery and mortars thereby
endangering the lives of the civilians in the event of retaliatory fire at LTTE
positions. It has also been observed
that the Tamil Tigers have used hospitals, schools and even places of worship
such as the Holy Madhu Church to launch attacks on the advancing Sri Lankan
Army, and vandalise these public places as they retreated to their fortress
towns of Killinochchi, Mullativu and Puthukudiyirippu.
The
Sri Lankan authorities on their own accord declared two separate 48 hour
ceasefires including the last one on the 13th and 14th of
April to coincide with the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year, whilst providing for
security corridors to enable the trapped civilians to move to safety and
care. These ceasefires or pauses did not
materialize in any movement of civilians except for a negligible trickle, as
the LTTE used these occasions to force the civilians to engage in fortifying
their defences by constructing high earthen dams, digging deep trenches and
bunkers, laying mines and booby traps to obstruct the advancing army from
retaking the territory usurped by these terrorists. Despite the facts relating to the position on
the ground, we continued to hear the shameful mourn of the UN, international
community, and the INGO/NGO lobby including HRW, Amnesty, ICG, GCR2P, CPJ, and
others repeatedly chanting the following mantra; “We urge the Government of Sri
Lanka to agree to a humanitarian ceasefire to allow civilians to leave the war
zone. We call for a brief truce to
negotiate the civilians’ exit.“ What
guarantee do we have that the LTTE
will
agree to such an arrangement without an exit strategy for their fighters and
leadership? The Sri Lankan government
granted a further 24 hour period for the LTTE to unconditionally surrender or
face military action, which they rejected vowing to fight to the finish and
achieve victory. (Contd./2)
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2 -
Without
an inviolable undertaking by the LTTE to cease all hostilities and allow the
civilians unhindered movement, no government will be prepared to act on pleas
made by foreign governments when they are finally dismantling the terror
network of the Tamil Tigers that has caused immense loss of life, maiming and
an inestimable amount of destruction of valuable property over the past three
decades. We are also aware of the
arming, training and sanctuary provided to the Tamil terrorists by our giant
neighbour India, the duplicitous role of the failed peace facilitator Norway,
and the INGO/NGO community that provided succour to the LTTE to build up their
arsenal and fortify their defences during the past two decades while they
neglected to serve the poverty stricken civilians who were living in squalor under
the jackboot of the Tigers. We also
deplore the actions of the western nations that took very little action to stop
the flow of funds from their jurisdictions to the Tamil Tigers for procurement
of weapons even after they had proscribed the LTTE, in order to appease the
pro-Tiger Tamil Diaspora whose votes helped them to retain office. The world’s leader on the global war on
terrorism that suffered an attack in 2001 on September 11th appears to have
decided to block Sri Lanka’s application to the IMF for a standby loan of $1.5
billion, even though they agreed at the recent G20 Summit to inject more than
$1 trillion into the world financial system to overcome the global economic
downturn in order to stimulate growth and expand loans to troubled nations, for
no other reason but for defeating the world’s most brutal terror outfit as
described by the FBI through her own efforts?
End
Game: The Sri Lankan forces are in the process of
mopping up the remaining Tiger fighters and securing the freedom and safety of
the displaced civilians said to number around 12000 still being held by the
LTTE to provide a human shield. Two of the senior Tiger commanders, namely Daya
Master and George Master have since surrendered to the authorities and
confirmed the above estimated number of civilians. The Tiger fighters could still put down their
weapons and surrender, bite into the cyanide capsules round their necks or go
down fighting as decided on by them.
Resettlement
and Future Plans: The Sri Lankan authorities
have taken all possible steps within their means to provide food, clean water,
medical facilities and all other essential amenities to the displaced civilians
in special welfare villages with the assistance of the UNHCR, WFP, ICRC and
members of the international community.
The visiting UN officials, diplomats, religious dignitaries, media
personnel, delegation of expatriate Tamils, etc. have all expressed their
satisfaction, even though the standards fall far short of that found in
developed countries, or that of the Hilton Hotel, Westin Hotel, or other five
star hotels to which the overpaid INGO/NGO community are used to. They will be temporarily housed till such
time as their former villages are de-mined, infrastructure put in place and
made ready for resettlement. Meanwhile,
the government has established schools, banks, vocational training centres,
telephone facilities, reception centres for visiting friends and relatives, and
a host of other essential services to meet their daily needs. Furthermore, a national fund named the
‘Uthuru – Mithuru’ (Northern Friends) has been set up to enable Sri Lankans
from all communities to extend a helping hand to help their affected Tamil
brothers and sisters to live normal lives in peace and stability. A political arrangement to meet the needs of
all the constituent communities within the auspices of the All Party
Representatives Conference has made substantial progress, and is presently in
the final stages of design before same could be placed before the voting public
for a decision. The Sinhalese community
has already demonstrated their eagerness to build bridges and resolve any
differences by earlier organizing the ‘Brotherhood Train’ to bring gifts of essentials
from the south to their fellow citizens from the Tamil community in the north
valued at Rupees 25 million in November 2008.
Our own association has similarly reached out to the Tamil community by
providing school supplies to children in Shanthimale in the east, and mosquito
nets to families in Omanthai in the north, whilst planning yet other projects
for the upcoming months. The nation is
slowly but surely coming together with the imminent defeat of Tamil Tiger
terrorism, which has opened the space for reconciliation and rebuilding.
Yours very truly,
Mahinda Gunasekera
Honorary President