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A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Monday, January 2, 2012
Thousands of ex-LTTE soldiers still unemployed
Sunday 01 January 2012
By Elmo Leonard
Unaccounted numbers of rehabilitated Tamil LTTE soldiers --- both male and female go unemployed in Sri Lanka’s north and east, Sinhalese, Human Rights Activist and Trainer, Marini de Livera said.
Most of these young men and women had received weapons training. All they now want is a source of livelihood. If another armed Tamil movement begins, the hungry, rehabilitated Tamil youth will have no option but to join in militancy, De Livera, who since 2003 is involved in training Sri Lanka Army majors and captains in human rights, said.
Working in an honorary capacity for the past five years with the army, De Livera is also an attorney-at-law, holds a post graduate Diploma in Human Rights and is a senior lecturer in her discipline. It is a mistake to send ex-combatants back to their villages and towns of origin without ensuring them a mode of livelihood, she said.
Marginalized Tamil people
Most of these young men and women had received weapons training. All they now want is a source of livelihood. If another armed Tamil movement begins, the hungry, rehabilitated Tamil youth will have no option but to join in militancy, De Livera, who since 2003 is involved in training Sri Lanka Army majors and captains in human rights, said.
Working in an honorary capacity for the past five years with the army, De Livera is also an attorney-at-law, holds a post graduate Diploma in Human Rights and is a senior lecturer in her discipline. It is a mistake to send ex-combatants back to their villages and towns of origin without ensuring them a mode of livelihood, she said.
Marginalized Tamil people
During the island nation’s 27-year civil strife that ended May 2009, it was the poor and marginalized Tamil people of the north and east who remained in the war theatre; the others had found a home in First World nations as USA, Canada, UK, Australia, besides other countries.
On inquiry what 200 ex-combatants in a rehabilitation camp wanted most, the response was that they had wished for toiletries such as soap and shampoo, while some had requested for Tamil-English dictionaries. Their requests were collated through an email. One youth had said that while the parents of all ex-combatants visited them, his father could not and requested for a wheel chair for his father. De Livera found the father lying in a hut with amputated legs. Now, father and son see each other.
De Livera at a recent public forum in Colombo appealed that someone provides employment to female ex-combatant Balachandran Subakhani, 26, from Chulipurum in the island’s north-east. Subakhani had surrendered to the army two days after the war ended. Subakhani who fought in the frontlines had spoken only of AK47 and T56 expertise. She was also successful at the Advanced Level examination.
Sinhalese women were evil
On inquiry what 200 ex-combatants in a rehabilitation camp wanted most, the response was that they had wished for toiletries such as soap and shampoo, while some had requested for Tamil-English dictionaries. Their requests were collated through an email. One youth had said that while the parents of all ex-combatants visited them, his father could not and requested for a wheel chair for his father. De Livera found the father lying in a hut with amputated legs. Now, father and son see each other.
De Livera at a recent public forum in Colombo appealed that someone provides employment to female ex-combatant Balachandran Subakhani, 26, from Chulipurum in the island’s north-east. Subakhani had surrendered to the army two days after the war ended. Subakhani who fought in the frontlines had spoken only of AK47 and T56 expertise. She was also successful at the Advanced Level examination.
Sinhalese women were evil
De Livera told delegates at the International Volunteer Day that at their first meeting Subakhani had said that all Sinhalese women were evil. Subakhani had asked De Livera, why she came to see her. De Livera had answered, “Because I love you.”
Subakhani’s father died in the war. She lives in a little hut with her mother. For a time, they had lived by pawning their jewellery. Now, they do not know when they will get the next meal. On surrender, Subakhani was taken to the Ambepussa Rehabalitation Centre, then to the Tellipillay RC.
Now, Subakhani’s only wish is to find employment in the public sector, but has been “prevented from seeing a government gazette,” De Livera told the gathering, among them foreign United Nations delegates.
Of the much talked about white flag incident, De Livera said that when international media had interviewed Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the interviewee had said that the Sri Lanka Army was human rights friendly, having been trained in that discipline. De Livera said she was elated to hear that as she was the trainer for the army.
De Livera has to pay double the fee for English classes for Subakhani. For reasons unknown to De Livera, no teacher in Chulipuram had initially wished to teach a poor girl English. Subakhani is now computer literate.
De Livera does not understand Tamil and initially spoke to Subakhani in faulty English and Sinhala. Now, they communicate in English.
De Livera called on Sinhalese families to ‘adopt’ Tamil ex-combatant youth, not by physically getting them down to their homes but by spending for their education and finding them jobs. There has to be inter-personal contact between the Sinhalese and Tamils if the wounds of the long conflict are to be healed. There is a common denominator between people who lived in conflict zones as Ruwanda, Kosovo and Sri Lanka, De Livera said.
With the A9 road now open, there is no excuse for the Sinhalese keeping away from humanitarian work in the north and east of the island, De Livera stressed.
There are 130 government schools in the north and a few teachers versed in English. A question is how English could be taught effectively to those youth. De Livera is now writing a book of English plays intended for fulfilling that aspiration, she said.
Subakhani’s father died in the war. She lives in a little hut with her mother. For a time, they had lived by pawning their jewellery. Now, they do not know when they will get the next meal. On surrender, Subakhani was taken to the Ambepussa Rehabalitation Centre, then to the Tellipillay RC.
Now, Subakhani’s only wish is to find employment in the public sector, but has been “prevented from seeing a government gazette,” De Livera told the gathering, among them foreign United Nations delegates.
Of the much talked about white flag incident, De Livera said that when international media had interviewed Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the interviewee had said that the Sri Lanka Army was human rights friendly, having been trained in that discipline. De Livera said she was elated to hear that as she was the trainer for the army.
De Livera has to pay double the fee for English classes for Subakhani. For reasons unknown to De Livera, no teacher in Chulipuram had initially wished to teach a poor girl English. Subakhani is now computer literate.
De Livera does not understand Tamil and initially spoke to Subakhani in faulty English and Sinhala. Now, they communicate in English.
De Livera called on Sinhalese families to ‘adopt’ Tamil ex-combatant youth, not by physically getting them down to their homes but by spending for their education and finding them jobs. There has to be inter-personal contact between the Sinhalese and Tamils if the wounds of the long conflict are to be healed. There is a common denominator between people who lived in conflict zones as Ruwanda, Kosovo and Sri Lanka, De Livera said.
With the A9 road now open, there is no excuse for the Sinhalese keeping away from humanitarian work in the north and east of the island, De Livera stressed.
There are 130 government schools in the north and a few teachers versed in English. A question is how English could be taught effectively to those youth. De Livera is now writing a book of English plays intended for fulfilling that aspiration, she said.
