orpheus perera

To Jim, Christoph and the rest of the Sri Lanka crisis team

Hi,

I have no support for this. I personally know what is happening. There are few factors that delays the resettlement of these refugees.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Also it was not a civil war. It was a war against terrorist.If the Rajapaksha government did not do what they did, war would have gone for ever and if the country was divided, endless civil war would have taken place untill the singhales people are wiped out by migrating south Indian population.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 1. Sri Lankan Government has to run a welfare state while fighting a war. Terroist has more funds than the SL government.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 2. Most of the towns and villages LTTE left, they have planted land mines, The government has to spend a large sum of money to clean it up before resettlement.

3. There could be still terrorist living among the civilians waiting to discredit the government.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If you were in Colombo and its suburbs, any time you will find a large amount of people who have been living for generations(from the time the British ruled SL) living under worse conditions. They are called slums and shanties.

How about the Iraqi refugees(victims of George W Bush’s blunder) who were refugees for the last 8 years.

How about the Palestinian refugees?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Why don’t Tamils arround the worl send money to clean up the land mines and build up houses for the refugees?

On Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 7:48 AM, Jim McDonald, Amnesty International USA <alerts@takeaction.amnestyusa.org> wrote:

The situation in Sri Lankan prison camps is worsening and we need you to act now to help innocent civilians escape disaster.

Monsoon rains are due soon in Sri Lanka. Last month, heavy rains flooded the military-run internment camps that house a quarter of a million displaced Sri Lankans. Uprooted by the bloody civil war that ended May 2009, the detainees are being held captive by the military, against their will and in violation of national and international law. At least 50,000 of them are children.

Ratchet up the pressure on Sri Lanka to open the camps.

The camps are filthy, overcrowded and dangerous. Journalists are banned; access by aid workers is restricted. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the camps in late May as “appalling.”

Heavy rains in September caused rivers of water to cascade through the tents, forcing camp residents to wade through sewage. Monsoon rains are expected to start soon, threatening to flood the camps. One escapee told Amnesty that some women are forced to give birth in front of strangers without privacy.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ We have received disturbing reports that the military is blocking detainee release attempts by the civilian administration, and that many detainees who were “released” were merely transferred to other camps.

People in these camps are desperate to leave. They have a right to protection and must be consulted on talks of resettlement.

Don’t let this crisis become a disaster. Demand freedom for the displaced in Sri Lanka.

They’ve suffered through the nightmare of civil war. Now they’re locked up, living in fear of torture, death and catastrophic flooding. Open the camps and put them on the path to freedom — take action today.

Sincerely,

Jim, Christoph and the rest of the Sri Lanka crisis team

P.S. — To increase pressure on Sri Lankan authorities, we’re asking supporters to mail postcards to the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington, D.C. If you’d like to send some, we’re happy to mail you enough to share with friends. Just send us an email at crisis@aiusa.org. Visit our Web site to see a preview of the card.