30 Years Since Sri Lanka Race Attacks

Jul-24-2013 

The 1983 Black July pogroms were the beginning of a history of persecution and racist violence for Sri Lanka's Tamils. Liam Brown reminds our politicians why there are so many Tamil refugees.

(COLOMBO, Sri Lanka) - Today marks marks the 30th anniversary of a watershed moment in Sri Lankan history: the Black July pogrom against members of the Tamil ethnic group. The pogrom claimed the lives of perhaps thousands of people, displaced thousands more and marked a start to the civil war that would consume the country for nearly 30 years.

Black July and its origins are worth discussing, if for no other reason than the recent attacks on the rights of asylum seekers and the prevailing perception that there is no persecution of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

The pogrom took place in July 1983, by ethnic majority Sinhalese. It was not a spontaneous outburst of violence, as is commonly thought. Rather, it was a well-planned, calculated attack upon the minority group in an attempt to drive them from the island’s main population areas. This was the finding of a detailed report by the International Commission of Jurists following the events.

Photo by Sangam.org

30 Years Since Sri Lanka Race Attacks by nelvely