At last UN worries about Tamil children held by Tamil Tigers

By H. L. D. Mahindapala

(January 22, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, has said in a press release that she is worried about children who are internally displaced persons (IDPs) and child combatants used by the LTTE.

Though late (press release was issued yesterday -- January 21, 2009), the Special Representative appealed to the LTTE to immediately release its child fighters. Tamil Tigers have been reported to the Security Council three times before for forcibly recruiting child soldiers. But they disregarded the rap on their knuckles with UN feathers.

Nor has UN responded with sufficient pressure in the current context which is different to the time when the Tamil Tigers were in command in Killinochchi. Ms. Coomaraswamy refers to “child combatants used by the LTTE”. She has done that before and the Tigers have not been overly disturbed by the heavy attack of feathers fired from her office.

If she was serious about putting pressure on the Tamil Tigers she should have referred to new tactics of the desperate Tigers forcibly dragging the children to the jungles for two main reasons: 1. to use them as a human shield and 2. to keep them in stock for recruitment as their cadres deplete at the front. Her statement does not focus on the plight of the children arising from the new situation. Nor does she refer to the Tamil Tigers desperately running around to recruit more children from long-suffering parents. Her bland statement does not pin-point the suffering of the children used to give more oxygen to Prabhakaran gasping for breath.

Nevertheless, it is heartening to note that the Rip Van Winkles in the UN have woken up at last. Oozing with maternal concern she has recycled the usual platitudes: “We must not forget the children. They are the next generation and they must be protected as much as possible.”

Contrast this with the instant condolences offered by the former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to a mere Tiger lieutenant, Kausalyan, when he was killed in a gun battle with Tamil rivals in the east of Sri Lanka. Ms. Coomaraswamy who knows the ground situation well has been sleeping over this issue and waited till now – when the Tigers are beaten -- to issue her concerns over the current situation which has been worsening since last year.

She was not that slow when she found it necessary to investigate the anti-LTTE group, led by Karuna Amman. She was quick to mobilize the pro-Tiger Canadian politician, Alan Rock, as her representative to report on any child conscription by Karuna Amman. Predictably, Alan Rock accused the Sri Lankan government of covertly assisting Karuna Amman to recruit under aged children. She must have been quite pleased with the result and even closed the file saying: “Mission accomplished!”

She also seems to be at a loss not knowing how to fill the blank spaces in her press communiqué. In one para “(S)he voiced the hope that the Government will take part in talks on how to spare their lives….” This is inane. Is the Sri Lankan government going to hold talks to slaughter them? Then she goes on to “stress(ing) that both authorities and humanitarian partners should prepare to separate these children and reintegrate them back into their families.” Clearly, she has nothing constructive to say except to repeat the obvious. Surely, the UN must have better things to do than to produce bureaucratese to cover-up their inadequacies and incompetence?

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes had a more realistic approach to the Sri Lankan situation. Last week, the UN humanitarian chief said he is increasingly concerned for the well-being of tens of thousands of civilians caught up in the conflict raging in the northern Vanni area of Sri Lanka.

“As fighting surrounds the areas towards which families have been displaced, and with few choices about where to move, they are increasingly susceptible to harm due to the fighting,” he said.

“While they have had access to basic food, in large part due to the Government and the UN assistance transported through the lines of fighting,” he said, “they have few, if any, reserves and the conditions of their basic shelter, water and sanitation are increasingly inadequate as many have been displaced multiple times over the last months, weeks and days.” - Sri Lanka Guardian