"Human rights groups say the government is lying about its resettlement efforts; authorities concede they are using the camps as a tool"
It is SERIOUS if the human rights groups accuse a government of LYING! That word is SO RARELY SEEN in the AmeriKan MSM. They didn't even use it to describe Israel's latest behavior in Gaza.
Related: Welcome to the Camps
Sri Lanka Emptying Concentration Camps
Of course, the world also sits back and observes the biggest outdoor prison in world history -- Gaza, Palestine -- without doing a damn thing, so why should I be surprised?
"Massive detainee problem threatens Sri Lankan peace" by Emily Wax, Washington Post | November 12, 2009
TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka - Six months after Sri Lanka’s decades-old civil war ended with a final assault, about 200,000 people remain trapped in overcrowded government-run camps that were once havens for those fleeing the conflict.
I'm sorry, but they were never that.
Read 'em and weep.
Facing pressure from the Obama administration and the European Union, the Sri Lankan government last month launched a campaign to resettle tens of thousands of the minority Tamil detainees.
The terms just SMACK of ETHNIC CLEANSING, don't they?
But interviews in the country’s war-ravaged north reveal that many civilians have merely been shuffled from the large camps to smaller transit ones and are being held against their will. Others have been released, only to be taken from their homes days later with no indication of where they have gone.
Ho-hum, 'eh, world?
Must be a reason the U.S. hasn't invaded yet, huh?
After the army defeated the Tamil rebels in May, top government officials paraded their success on the streets of Colombo, the capital, and the country’s leaders made promises about ensuring national harmony. Now analysts say the real test of Sri Lanka’s success in building a stable, post-conflict society lies in the fate of these scores of thousands of detainees. Human rights groups say the government is lying about its resettlement efforts; authorities concede they are using the camps as a tool to uncover any remaining Tamil militants but deny they are deliberately stalling civilians’ return home.
“We thought this war was over. But for Tamils, it’s like going from the frying pan and into the fire,’’ said Devander Kumar, whose brother was released, only to be taken away by police without explanation, one of 30 men in this seaside city who have disappeared soon after their homecoming. “Do we Tamils have to prove every second of the day that we are not terrorists?’’
And you guys aren't even Muslim.
Tamil leaders worry that if civilians languish in the camps indefinitely, the situation will only breed more resentments and risk spawning another generation of rebels. But the government says it needs more time to de-mine vast stretches of land in the north. Authorities also say they continue to root out rebels who have blended into the civilian population.
But the war is over!?
“History will prove us right,’’ said Basil Rajapaksa, who is leading the resettlement process.
That is what HITLER, STALIN, MAO, and BUSH said!!!!
Rajapaksa is a US citizen and an adviser to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his brother.
Translation: The U.S. has their man in Sri Lanka.
That's why the slaughter was allowed, huh?
--more--"
I know the issue is more complex because this is another area where Usrael played and armed both sides. Why they abandoned Tamils at this time I am not sure. Related to the upcoming WWIII?
