Human Development Centre - HUDEC

The people living in the North of Sri Lanka were elated and hopeful that your visit to the Island can be useful to evaluate and analyse the current situation in the North East. The Tsunami catastrophe has devastated Sri Lanka and it’s a double tragedy for the people living in the North East. Before they could recover from the agony of the two decades of civil war, another humanitarian disaster has struck them.

It is a matter of regret that the government has denied the rare opportunity to the internally displaced people living in the North to meet you and air their grievances. Your visit to the North would have enlightened you to study the ground situation about the untold sufferings which have not been properly highlighted to the international community. Nature does not discriminate, but the dominance of the majority community role has exposed discrimination. Acts of this nature will have to be replaced with the guarantee of individual rights of the minority.

The resurgence in the peace process is the need of the hour. Protection during return, resettlement and reintegration under the UN Guiding principles on internal displacement has not been enforced by the government. These principles enjoy authority and credibility in the light of their origins in international human rights and humanitarian law and refugee law by analogy.

To achieve the goal of peace and reconciliation the international aid should be directly identified in the North East and channelled to an authority to ensure an expeditious resettlement and rehabilitation work in these areas.

We are confident that your intervention will pave the way for political accommodation for the Tamil speaking people to live with honour and dignity.

Thanking you.

Yours sincerely

Signed:

S.Paramananthan
President

M.Tharmaratnam
Joint Secretary