An interesting trip to Sri Lanka
Posted by Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham, at 12:53, Wed 4 October 2006:
On Friday, 8 September, Mr Jeyachandran from Springfield Road came to see me at my surgery. His wife was visiting relatives in the Jaffna peninsula, Sri Lanka. In late July, fighting broke out between the Government and the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE). LTTE is fighting for an independent homeland for ethnic Tamils. Jaffna is controlled by Government troops, but the only road out of Jaffna passes through areas controlled by LTTE. It was impossible to leave. Hundreds of foreigners had been trapped for over a month, and Mr Jeyachandran wanted Britain to help.
Three days later, by chance, I was flying to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, for the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Conference. Arriving early on Tuesday, I told the British High Commissioner, Dominick Chilcott, about my constituent. He promised to investigate. His team was in touch with many UK citizens in Jaffna, and were working to help. That afternoon he brought me some good news: a ship had been able to leave Jaffna on Saturday, the day after Mr Jeyachandran met me, and Mrs Jeyachandran was one of 40 British citizens on board. But 80 were still trapped.
That evening, I met the President, Mahinda Rajapaksa. I told him about Newham’s Tamil community, about the deep concern over the fighting, and about reports of shocking human rights abuses. I also told him about the Britons trapped in Jaffna.
The President said he was committed to searching for peace. He wanted to learn from Britain’s experience in Northern Ireland, and had recently discussed it with Tony Blair. He wondered if Sri Lankans in Newham might be able to help. He acknowledged the reports of human rights abuses by Government security forces. Amnesty International had sent him a dossier on 60 cases. He said he was appointing an independent judicial commission to investigate, with international observers. And he promised to see what he could do for the trapped Britons.
On Wednesday, we learned that another Sri Lankan navy ship was available to take foreigners from Jaffna. On Thursday – as I prepared to leave the conference – the High Commissioner reported that a further 47 British citizens were on board. The ship was due to deliver its passengers to Colombo at 4 am next morning, and High Commission staff would be there to help the Britons among them. Their work to get the remaining British nationals out of Jaffna is continuing.
Sri Lanka is a beautiful, hospitable island, surrounded by palm-fringed sandy beaches. It has wonderful hills and tea plantations, increasingly popular with ‘eco-tourists’, and superb natural resources. But its 20 million people know terrible suffering: the bloody conflict has lasted three decades, and 30,000 people died in the Boxing Day Tsunami.
Recovery from the Tsunami has been impressive. Many people in Newham helped. Perhaps, as the President suggested, people in Newham will be able to help Sri Lanka find a way to end its conflict too.
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