“UN abandons principles of Right to Protect in Sri Lanka”

by H. L. D. Mahindapala

(September 07, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) According to a UN report “LTTE is unlikely to allow substantial outflow of population from the Wanni” even though there is internal pressure mounting, as the war intensifies, for a mass exodus from the theatre of war in the Wanni. This is recorded in the minutes circulated by the UN after a meeting with INGOs and NGOs held recently at Habarana. The minutes were circulated last week by Head, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Zola Dowell.

The UN minutes confirm that the Tigers are intensifying ‘the pass’ system to prevent any large-scale exodus.

According to the minutes the Tigers have told the Wanni population to get ready for the final battle without allowing the people to decide where they should stay. Letters have been sent to families in the Wanni to join the ‘final battle.’ The Tigers are also intensifying recruitment of civilians into its ranks. August 26 was the deadline given for finishing bunkers. They have called in reserves to add to the strength of the cadres.

“LTTE has indicated that no passes will be issued for dependents of UN / NGO staff members to leave the Wanni," states the minutes.

The Government of Sri Lanka last week appealed to the INGOs to persuade the Tigers to let the people crossover to the government-controlled area without using them as a shield.

The UN has turned a deaf ear to this plea. UN spokesperson Gordon Weiss has told the Sunday Times: “UN officials are in the area only to ensure humanitarian assistance to those in need,” adding that they were not there to advise the people on which direction they should move.

“Any person has the freedom of movement, and they can move where and when they want in search of safety and assistance. It is difficult to persuade people to leave their homes, taking whatever they own and head for a place that will be alien to them,” Mr. Weiss told The Sunday Times.

“Convincing the civilians on the direction they should take is up to the relevant authorities or the parties to the conflict,” Mr. Weiss said. He confirmed that civilians were moving in large numbers deeper behind LTTE lines as the security forces continue to close in from several fronts.

Responding to this Mr. Ranjith Soysa, spokesperson for the Melbourne-based Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights (SPUR) told the Sri Lanka Guardian: “At a time when the Tamil people are caught in the middle of a war basic considerations should prompt the UN to direct the people to safe havens. Instead of which the UN is washing its hands off and letting the Tigers use the Tamil civilians as a shield. This is the same UN that offered condolences when a mere lieutenant of the Tigers was killed by the rival Tamil parties. Kofi Annan, former Secretary General, misguided by the ground staff in Colombo, offered condolences to a minor apparatchik of the Tigers. But when hundreds of thousands are used as a shield by the Tigers to protect their backs the UN is manufacturing excuses which only help the Tiger terrorists. How wise is Mr. Weiss?”

Dr. Noel Nadesan, editor of the Australian community paper, UTHAYAM, told the Sri Lanka Guardian: “UN cries from tops about the responsibility of governments to protect people. In the Wanni the people are facing the biggest threat to their lives and the UN is refusing to act. This is a clear example where the UN officials on the ground should move to protect the people by assisting the Tamil people to escape the horrors of war. If it fails to provide the minimal assistance to the people caught in the middle it will stand accused of abandoning its own principles of R2P.”

Earlier in an open letter (See Sri Lanka Guardian on August 29) he wrote: “It is hypocritical for us to cry for human right when our people are not even give a choice to decide whether they should be in the middle of a war, facing unnecessary risks and sufferings, or escape to a safe haven. How can we feel morally superior when our people are kept against their will to face a war which they don’t want? If we can’t decided between war and peace we can at least make a choice between keeping our people as prisoners in the middle of a war or letting them go.

“The people have a right to decide where they should stay in times of war. They cannot be kept against their will to face bullets and bombs. Let the people decide with whom they want to stay.

It is time we all said: LET MY PEOPLE GO IN PEACE TO WHEREVER THEY WANT TO GO.”
- Sri Lanka Guardian