CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Rash Conduct of Aid Agencies Risk the lives of their Staff, Civilians and Security Forces Personnel

Dilrook Kannangara

A few aid agencies have defied the order to leave Vanni. They have cited civilian protests as the reason for their decision. Civilians were in turn instigated by the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) to block the convoys of leaving agencies. Therefore at the end of the day these agencies are dancing to the tune of the LTTE which has a grand plan for both civilians and staff working for aid agencies. Meanwhile pro-LTTE elements are trumpeting the miseries of the displaced people as if this was the only instance people were displaced in this country. Interestingly most of these jokers were dead silent in the 1980s when hundreds of thousands of people were forced out of the north and parts of the east simply because they were Sinhalese. They kept mum in 1990 when hundreds of thousands of Muslims were chased out of Jaffna with 24 hours notice by the LTTE. These people were not only displaced, but were also ethnically ?cleansed' by the LTTE. Despicably some clowns making a big hue and cry about displaced civilians today went to the extent of justifying these barbaric acts of the LTTE basing their theories on the ruined concept of ?Tamil homeland'.

The way out of hell

However, amidst all this hypocrisy, noise and distractions, military operations must continue to exterminate the LTTE. Any let up will surely result in the reversal of gains made so far and force a stalemate. It requires courage and intelligence to separate the truth from propaganda, vital signals from distracting noise and solutions from problems. These are the exact skills that are required to apprehend the urgency that is needed to action safety measures for the civilians trapped in the northern battlefield. Arguing over who is right, who is wrong, the root causes and root causes of such root causes cannot save the 150,000 IDPs already living under trying conditions in Vanni and many more deliberately ?relocated' into strategic locations to be used as human shields by LTTE terrorists. LTTE has many plans for ?its people', the unfortunate 350,000 trapped in Vanni uncleared areas.

If aid agencies are relocated to government controlled areas, people would also follow them. Similarly Government Agents (GAs) for Mulaitivu and Kilinochchi districts must also be relocated to cleared areas further enticing civilians to cross over. Obviously LTTE terrorists want people to remain in the battlefield and therefore government enticements by way of carrots and sticks must overpower LTTE efforts.

Why Tigers want people to stay back in the battlefield

Firstly Tigers want them to stay with them so that food, medicine, tents, etc. sent by the generous government and aid agencies can be robbed and consumed by the Tigers. It is said that Tigers use their own distribution formula once aid reaches the area controlled by them. Fist the LTTE top brass fill their stomachs; then the next layer of cadres; then the next until all its cadres and ?civilian' combatants are fed. If anything left, that goes to feed ?Mahaveer' families. These are families that have sacrificed family members for the futile LTTE cause of ?Tamil liberation'. If anything is left thereafter, people are allowed to share. However, IDPs are not given their share so that their plight can be used again and again to lure more and more goodies from the government and aid agencies.

The second reason is to use them as a defence against advancing unstoppable security forces. Tigers have already constructed the physical infrastructure around Kilinochchi to house tens of thousands of civilians at key entry routes to the town which is the capital of LTTE's Terroristan. While keeping them as human shields Tigers attack security forces from behind these human shields. If security forces take any defensive measure, Tigers highlight civilian casualties and cry foul knowing fully well that Sri Lankan troops would do anything to protect civilians. This hostage business has worked very well for the LTTE over the years and it shows no sign of letting the hostages go. In trying to minimise civilian casualties, security forces employ riskier methods endangering the lives and limbs of its personnel.

Thirdly Tigers are craving for international sympathy. However, they know only too well that the international community shows no sympathy whatsoever for the LTTE which is a banned terrorist group in almost all developed countries. Under these constraints the only way to get international sympathy is by displaying the sufferings of civilians and putting the blame on the government. The US, British, Italian, Russian, Indian and Australian governments didn't give into demands made by hostage takers in their very own battles and there is no reason why either they or the Sri Lankan government should treat this situation any differently. LTTE hostage takers must be handled heavy-handedly otherwise they will repeat the successes of one mission to another. Real sympathy should fall only on the civilians and the surest way to afford them a better tomorrow is to allow humanitarian operations carried out by security forces to forge ahead without obstructions.

Fourthly Tigers want to show that people living in the area under LTTE control flock in their thousands for protection into their bases. This is an absurd attempt as people are threatened and barred from leaving the LTTE controlled area. Interestingly those who sought protection from security forces and the Human Rights Commission never went back! This proves the complete falsehood of LTTE terrorists in claiming that people voluntarily follow them.

Risk to aid agency staff

The incident involving 17 aid workers of Action Contre la Faim (ACF) aka Action Against Hunger in 2006 is a case in point. Although the government and security forces were wrongfully blamed for their deaths, it is clear that ACF put its staff in danger by sending them and keeping them in a battle ravaged area. If aid agencies do not take precautions to remove their staff from Vanni which is the new battlefront, many similar incidents will occur. These reckless aid agencies must take full responsibility for death and injuries that may be caused to their staff.

More stringent measures may be needed to force aid agencies out of Vanni which can include a total blockade of their supplies at entry points to Vanni, refusal of visa for their expatriate staff, denial of transport facilities and fuel, refusal to guarantee security of their staff, expulsion from country and militarily targeting their logistical facilities.

Their conduct raises doubts as to their true intentions. All peace-loving Sri Lankans must support a permanent end to the war. However, there are those who holding a different view. What if the LTTE terrorist menace is put out? Then the fat cats in aid agencies will lose their livelihood or may be transferred to another tragedy which would demote them from their present ranks. This is the real reason for their resistance. It is like a business plan to exploit a lucrative business opportunity. Sacrificing locals doesn't hinder that objective; in fact it may well be part of it!

Civilian displacement has become the most lucrative business segment of aid agencies but it is not a reason to halt military operations. Present military operations are humanitarian endeavours aimed at liberating the Vanni people from the jackboot of LTTE terrorists, uplifting their living conditions to the level enjoyed by their cousins in government controlled areas, establishing democracy in Vanni, ending the ethnic strife and bring about overall prosperity and peace to all Sri Lankans. It is too noble a mission to be hindered by the rash conduct of tradesmen who are cashing in on a tragedy.

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