By Elea Mihou

Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently released a report entitled “War on the Displaced” about the killing of civilians in Sri Lanka. According to HRW, thousands of civilians are trapped by fighting between Sri Lanka’s government and rebel Tamil Tiger forces.

Reporters and humanitarian aid cannot enter the combat zone, so information and assistance are sparse. It is hard to find an accurate death toll. To understand how this humanitarian crisis developed, it is important to understand Sri Lanka’s history of centuries of colonial rule, dominance, and exploitation by foreign countries.

Sri Lanka is an island nation off the coast of India which has been engaged in a civil war for nearly 6 decades.  The country was under colonial rule for centuries, most notably in 1798 when the British established control after the Dutch and Portuguese.

Like many nations under colonial rule, “divide and conquer” was a tactic used to subjugate the population. The British turned the ethnic groups of Sri Lanka against one another. So when Britain gave up power in 1948, ethnic tensions exploded.

The WNY Peace Center condemns all violence and works for a world free of militarism and warfare. The actions of the Sri Lankan government to knowingly kill and displace thousands of civilians are a violation of human rights. With so many lives at stake, its is important for citizens of the world to speak up.

Unfortunately so many Americans know little about Sri Lanka. So when the Peace Center was approached by local members of the Sri Lankan community to address the humanitarian crisis, we agreed that educating the public on the history and conditions of Sri Lanka was a vital first step in creating a plan for advocacy (more information about upcoming events on pg 4).
For more information please visit http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/02/19/war-displaced-0 to read the full HRW report and see the startling images of trapped civilians in Sri Lanka.