Two years since the end of wa

18 May, 2011 Charles Haviland
Colombo

Two years after the end of the war, most Sri Lankans feel a sense of relief that there is no more fighting, and that the Tamil Tiger bomb attacks which used to rock towns and cities including the capital no longer take place.

Yet many are still ambivalent about the nature of post-war Sri Lanka under the increasingly powerful Sinhalese nationalist president, Mahinda Rajapaksa. Lost relatives

Some families are still waiting for the missing

M.A. Sumanthiran of the biggest Tamil party says Tamils, especially in the north and east, still suffer great trauma. "A number of people have lost their children, their parents, their siblings. Many more don’t know whether their near ones are dead or alive and they’ve been looking for them for the last two years and coming up with a blank wall".

A number of people have lost their children, their parents, their siblings. Many more don’t know whether their near ones are dead or alive and they’ve been looking for them for the last two years and coming up with a blank wall M. A. Sumandiran

Last month a panel of experts, mandated by Ban Ki-Moon, said there was strong evidence that both sides may have committed war crimes as the war ended.

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Tamils mark two years since end of Sri Lanka's civil war

Updated May 18, 2011 22:12:32

Two years after the end of the bloody civil war in Sri Lanka, reconciliation between Tamils and the Sinhalese remains fraught with challenges.

Tamils around the world have gathered to commemorate the tens of thousands of lives lost during the final months of the war - when there was a sharp escalation in violence.

In Melbourne, the Tamil diaspora called on the Australian government to back the findings of a UN advisory report, which recommended an independent investigation into claims of atrocities perpetrated by both the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger sepatratists.

The Sri Lankan government says the report was "shoddy" and refutes any claims of atrocities.

Reporter: Alma Mistry
Speakers:Rajiva Wijesingha, Sri Lankan MP and the Secretary General of the Sri Lankan Government Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process; Adrian Sinnappu,The Consortium of Tamil Associations; Adam Bandt, Australian Greens Member for Melbourne

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