From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Date: 18 Aug 92 12:48 PDT
Subject: SRI LANKA: TAMIL REFUGEES WONDER IF
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700381:000:5162
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Aug 18 12:48:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: SRI LANKA: TAMIL REFUGEES WONDER IF

/* Written 12:04 am  Aug 17, 1992 by newsdesk in
cdp:ips.englibrary */ Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all
rights reserved.  Permission to re- print within 7 days of
original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: SRI LANKA: TAMIL REFUGEES WONDER IF IT WAS WORTH RETURNING


an inter press service feature

by nadia bilbassy

trincomalee, sri lanka, aug 14 (ips) -- the only thing that has
not been touched by the raging civil war in sri lanka's east and
north is the sea -- a brilliant blue in this eastern port town.

the government says trincomalee is under the army and has returned
to normal. but this week while the nation was mourning the death
of senior army officers killed in a land mine blast in a northern
island, everyone living here was rounded up in what security
forces call a ''cordon and search'' operation.

a crowd of over 4,000 people, including women and children,
gathered under the baking hot sun near the harbour. nine hooded
men inside a green van were identifying alleged tamil rebel
suspects. over 40 suspects were kneeling facing a nearby wall.

vehicles belonging to the international committee of the red cross
(icrc) and other agencies were present. some were negotiating with
senior army and police officers for the release of employees
picked up.

''such action is only going to make matters worse,'' a 55-
year-old tamil who was eventually released said. ''most tamils
have no faith in the police and army.''

the tamil did not want to be identified. a refugee, he is among
the 12,000 sri lankan tamils who have been repatriated from the
southern indian state of tamil nadu since january. on tuesday,
another 132 arrived in trincomalee, the second batch to be
airlifted from india this month under unhcr supervision.

most of those who volunteered to return have, however, swapped one
camp for another. they cannot go back to their villages, as they
had been assured, because the security situation is considered to
be still unsafe.

government troops are still battling to regain control of sri
lanka's north and east from a tamil guerrilla group called the
liberation tigers for tamil eelam (ltte), fighting for an
independent homeland for this island's tamil minority.

the village of nilaveli, 15-km north of trincomalee, is in army
hands. the village was a major battlefield, empty shattered
houses, stripped even of their window frames are evidencem but
entrance is restricted after five in the evening.

the army grows increasingly nervous and may open fire without
warning at any moving object. many of the military and police
checkpoints that dot the north and east close even earlier.

some of the refugees are living in makeshift huts made of palm
leaves, close to the beach at nilaveli. (more/ips)

sri lanka: tamil (2)

says a catholic priest, father leo, whose church is housing 60
families: ''the conditions of the refugees are very bad. they have
no running water, no basic sanitation and no jobs.''

twelve of the families are living in the backyard of the church.
the church is helping with food and clothing. the sri lankan
ministry of welfare and rehabilitation should provide refugees
with their basic needs, say relief workers.

''it's not good enough that the refugees have returned
voluntarily. the real problem starts once they are in sri lanka,''
said the catholic priest.

when the refugees arrived in january, the government gave each
family rs 2000, about 48 dollars, and a parcel of dry rations,
which according to the recipients was a mere gesture.

while some have found work as fishermen and casual workers, the
majority remain jobless, their future unknown.

observers believe the refugees are victims of colombo's over
eagerness to demonstrate that the security situation is under
control and india's desire to be rid of the 230,000 refugees, an
increasing burden on the tamil nadu government.

the refugees also lost sympathy among their ethnic cousins in
india after the implication of the ltte in the assassination of
former indian prime minister rajiv gandhi last may.

''i wanted to come back as there is no future for me in india,''
said joseph, a teacher and a father of two children who fled sri
lanka in june 1990.

''since i arrived in january, i am still living in a refugee camp,
i have no  job. in a way i feel deep disappointment and i feel i
was cheated. the government is doing nothing to help us.''

humanitarian agencies working in the camps reported harassment of
refugees. masked men often visit the camps, carrying a list of
names. they blindfold young men and take them away -- some to be
released later, others to disappear.

last week two men, one aged 18 and the other 17, were taken away
from a transit camp near nilaveli. their families reported the
case to the icrc. their whereabouts are still unknown.

''if some are suspected of working for tigers. they should be
arrested and charged publicly,'' said one of the refugees. ''the
situation is bad enough as it is, and this act will only encourage
young men to join the 'boys' (ltte).'' (end/ips/pr/nv/an/92)


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