SRI LANKA UNITED NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF CANADA
Box 55292, 300 Borough Drive,
Toronto, Ontario M1P 4Z7
January 12, 2005
Right Honourable Paul
Martin
Prime Minister of Canada
Dear Prime Minister,
Re: Your Upcoming Visit to
Sri Lanka
We are indeed grateful to you for having
decided at short notice to visit Sri Lanka in the wake of the recent tsunami
tidal wave
disaster which took the lives of over
30,000 people and further displaced almost a million people, whose homes and
livelihoods
were suddenly taken away by the massive
wall of water. We have also been deeply touched by the generous offer of
help in
the reconstruction effort, the despatch
of the DART team and encouagement given to the Canadian public to share the
burden
of rehabilitating the devastated area in
keeping with Canada's humanitarian spirit.
We are aware that you earlier informed a
group of leaders from the Indian ocean region with whom you met, that you would
not
want to visit the tsunami affected
countries at the present juncture as it would take away essential resources that
would be
needed for the relief effort in those countries. Whilst your statement is
true, it will still be comforting to have a leader from a
caring country such as Canada pay a
visit, as it will definitely serve to lift the spirits of those who are
languishing in temporary
shelters without a clear vision of the
future they would face.
Whilst we welcome your visit, we are
somewhat disturbed by the reports in the media which speak of your desire
to visit the
Vanni region controlled by the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which group has been designated an
international
terrorist organization by UN Security
Council, and similarly listed by our close allies in the USA, UK and
Australia. The LTTE
continues to receive massive amounts of
funding from Canada as their operations are not prevented by Canada's
Anti-Terrorism
Laws. As a result, the LTTE was
rearming and preparing to re-commence hostilities, and was planning to
withdraw from the
ceasefire arrangement according to the
veteran Tamil journalist, D.B.S. Jeyaraj of Toronto, in an article
published in Sri Lanka's
Sunday Leader newspaper of January 9,
2005. In the circumstances, such a visit would definitely send a wrong
signal that
Canada is sympathetic to the separatist
cause of the LTTE which has over the past two decades sought to forcibly carve
out
territory in the north and east of Sri
Lanka to set up a mono-ethnic separate state called "Eelam", whilst she opposes
the
break up of Canada by the Parti
Quebecois.
We would also like to mention that we
find the fundraising activities of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO)
which is an
arm of the LTTE, that has a highly
questionable record relating to diversion of donations for the LTTE's arms
procurement,
actively collecting funds supposedly for
tsunami disaster relief. The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) which came into
being in the
early part of 2002 after
the passing of the UN Security Council Resolution Number 1373 of September
28, 2001 designating the
LTTE as a terrorist group, is apparently
one formed by the same pro-LTTE activists to fill the void as a result of
the known front
organizations such as the World
Tamil Movement (WTM) and the Federation of
Associations of Canadian Tamils (FACT) having
to maintain a low profile, also engaged
in fundraising alongside the TRO. The TRO ofice in London, UK was raided
by the
British Commissioner of Charities in the
year 2000, and has not been allowed to function in the UK. We call on the
Government
of Canada to strictly monitor the funds
being raised by both the TRO and the CTC, and ensure that these are not diverted
for
the LTTE's military
preparations.
Media reports and statements made by
international relief agencies have confirmed the equitable distribution of
tsunami disaster
relief to all affected areas in Sri
Lanka including areas in the north and east controlled by the LTTE.
The delays in delivery was due
to the
LTTE blocking the free flow of the aid material and workers into their
region. Tamil intellectuals belonging to the University
wherein they have thanked the Sinhala
people and the members of Sri Lanka's Security Forces who responded promptly to
the
needs of their fellow Tamil citizens in
this crisis. You could seek similar confirmation from
parliamentary members of the Tamil
National Alliance (TNA) which is closely alligned with the LTTE, if you
wish to do so when you visit Colombo.
We would like to take this opportunity
to wish you a safe and rewarding visit to Sri Lanka and other countries on your
itinerary.
Yours very truly,
Mahinda Gunasekera
Honourary President