THE BLOODY military confrontation between Sri Lanka’s army and remnants of the Tamil Tigers guerrilla movement has come to a tragic crescendo on a small strip of coast in the far northeast of the country.
Hundreds of thousands of starving civilian refugees have been held there against their will as human shields by the Tamil Tiger fighters, and have been ruthlessly bombed and shelled by the advancing military. Thousands have died and many more have been wounded this year and last. Those escaping the siege in recent days are pitifully weak and emaciated. The chief United Nations humanitarian officer said yesterday they are in “mortal danger”, while a European Union statement said they face “extreme peril”. There is a real danger of a massacre similar to Srebrenice in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995 if the fighting continues.
Yesterday’s decision by the Sri Lankan government to cease these heavy air and artillery attacks, and an earlier unilateral ceasefire by the Tamil Tigers, are welcome. But they must be followed by urgent international pressure for a humanitarian ceasefire to allow medical relief, evacuation and political talks.
This conflict has been pursued with extreme ferocity since January 2008, when political talks were abandoned. It then became a fight to the bitter end, as the Tamil Tigers forced civilians to join them in a steadily diminishing geographical enclave and the advancing military gave no quarter. Local journalists and international media have been systematically excluded. International journalist organisations say it is one of the most dangerous conflict zones for reporters, symbolised by the assassination of the campaigning editor of the Sunday Leader newspaper, Lasantha Wickramatunga, earlier this year.
He and other critics of the government’s intransigent approach say it risks antagonising the whole Tamil minority making up nearly a fifth of Sri Lanka’s population for the next generation, potentially reproducing the conflict a military victory is meant to resolve. The large and vocal Tamil diaspora would reinforce that. The government’s promise of autonomy and massive redevelopment after defeating the Tamil Tiger movement is unconvincing and could not be afforded following such an expensive war without strong international support. The condition for that should be an inclusive political process capable of respecting minority rights.