The subtle terror of the International Relief Organizations

By Christian Eckert

(February 28 , Kogal, Sri Lanka Guardian) The war against the LTTE terrorism in Sri Lanka is heading towards its bloody end. The Sri Lankan security forces, as united and, thanks to Chinese and Pakistani arms deliveries, strong in numbers as never before, have corralled the last still-fighting cadres of the LTTE in a 72 square kilometer patch of their utopian state of Tamil Eelam. As thousands of civilians wait, caught between the fronts, for the next development, yet another dilemma becomes more and more clear: there had been an unholy alliance between many international relief organizations active in the hotly fought-over north and the terrorist LTTE.

Some weeks ago, the international relief organizations active in the LTTE occupied area were, with the exception of the International Red Cross, brusquely asked by the Sri Lankan government to immediately leave the area of battle the Vanni. Their security could not be guaranteed anymore, the lapidary statement said.

The INGOs reluctantly followed this advice. The INGOs left large amounts of gasoline and other resources, and the great part of their vehicles, including SUVs as well as heavy construction equipment. This equipment was promptly misused by the cadres of the LTTE for military purposes, with troops and Tamil civilians alike being shot at from relief organization vehicles display the marking of their former owners.
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About Writer:Christian Eckert (50), born in Germany, raised in Vancouver Canada is a vetran media personality and a working journalist in Germany.

He has been visiting Asia, specially Sri Lanka for the past 30 years. Eckert is a 2004 Tsunami survivor in Sri Lanka. Form the Tsunami devastated south of the Country, Christian Eckert walked three days from Galle to the German Embassy in Colombo and returned home with a desire to help the needy in Sri Lanka. Since then he has been actively working with many humanitarian projects with Sri Lanka.Christian Eckert just returned back to Germany from a long trip to Sri Lanka.

During his stay he travelled extensively in the country. The Story filed to Sri Lanka Guardian is a view of a foreign Journalist that most western media don't like to expose in their own country.
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Numerous 19-foot containers of the INGOs, sent to Tamil-Tiger areas shortly after the Tsunami, were not returned, and the relevant INGOs never questioned nor did the freight companies complained. Now it is clear why – they were used by the LTTE to construct subterranean bunker systems. The LTTE has used those containers also as components for cleverly disguised plane hangars. Seven landing strips, constructed using the most modern western know-how, were also found.

55 electricity generators from Sweden, intended for use in hospitals in and around Jaffna, were found in the deserted shelters of the LTTE-Tigers, withdrawing under the Sri Lankan offensive. These generators were sufficient to supply the whole population of the north with electricity – instead they supplied the fighting units of the LTTE. Tiger leader Velupilai Prabhakaran, suffering from diabetes, not only had a hospital constructed especially for him in one of the headquarters, as well as ordering a bullet-proof vehicle to be constructed for him use, which has also been discovered. For the refurbishing of the vehicle, special metal sheets were used that had been ordered by one of the INGOs for the purported purpose of reconstructing destroyed bridges in the north.

Thus at least indirectly the INGOs can not reject the bitter accusation of having prolonged the war. Without vehicles and sufficient gasoline, for instance, the mobility of the remaining LTTE cadres would have been significantly reduced. The bunkers they built, the trenches they constructed for kilometers, and that made the agonizingly long static warfare necessary – without the construction equipment left to the LTTE by the INGOs, they would not have been there. Without the construction equipment, the destruction of some water tanks would not have been possible – the LTTE tried to prevent the progress of the troops with those drastic means – and without scruples put up with their own fellow Tamils, drowning miserably.
But while even more areas are taken by the security forces, something else becomes clear – not only based on the pictures published by the military, one asks himself amazedly what exactly these INGOs have really been doing all those years in the north, in the areas occupied by the LTTE.

Concretely – what have they done with the internationally collected funds, the many millions of donations in the name of humanitarian assistance? How much of it did they actually spend in Sri Lanka? And where exactly and for what exactly? These questions are self-serving not only for the advancing soldiers of the Sri Lankan army, as for them to see there is – nothing.

In the coastal areas of the now liberated areas it still looks like shortly after the tsunami. Whole villages are still living under blue UN canvas cover. The gruelling 25 year-long war, the killer waves of December 2004 and the final realization that the LTTE is actually not the high-handedly proclaimed “Liberation Army”, as it always liked to pose as, but is, in the recent misery of being crushingly defeated, uncovered as being a mean gang of criminals, keeping with brutal armed violence the people they pretend to fight for as human shields between themselves and their sure destruction.

These people in the Vanni would have really needed assistance. However, the INGOs which for years have been collecting funds to assumedly assist to exactly those people, did not supply the urgently needed assistance. Refugees say that not the INGOs, but the LTTE were distributing the food and basic supplies delivered to the north. And the LTTE bandits did this distribution according to their own taste – a family refusing to give at least one child to the LTTE had to hunger. Families allowing a child to be recruited got food, but never in sufficient amounts.
In the south, however, the infrastructure was completely rehabilitated after the tsunami-disaster of 2004 – better and more modern than ever before. In all places you fight marked ways of escape in case of another tsunami, new houses, streets, public buildings, constructed tsunami-proof with the help of many donations. The most important island highway, the coastal Galle Road along is mostly constructed for up to four lanes now.

None of this can be seen in the now liberated areas in the north. Only the headquarters of the self-styled Tigers are gleaming in feudal light – often enough including a swimming pool and leisure quarters, but always also with room of honour for the suicide bombers of the LTTE as well as premium constructed safety cellars and covered defence positions around the place. And always: A plethora of modern arms of all calibres. When the so-called Eelam capital Kilinochchi was taken in January not only the Sri Lankan troops were surprised: there was no trace of an infrastructure, the city was like a ghost town. Again: where did the many donated dollars and euros go that were explicitly sent to the north to help the Tamils?

This question can be clearly answered up to now in the case of three of the most busiest collectors of donations in the name of humanity: TRO (Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation), TYO (Tamil Youth Organisation) and WTM (World Tamil Movement). The accounts of those hypocritical relief organizations were frozen in some countries like Canada, the US, Europe as well as in Australia. Officials of those organizations have to face investigation by state prosecution. The unbelievable accusation: the donated millions were used exclusively for arms purchases for the LTTE. TRO, TYO and WTM were nothing else than front organizations of the LTTE terrorists, and the arms that troops find one by one taking back areas occupied by the LTTE for years, mirror the amount of funds we are talking about. Besides whole ammunition factories for the production of mines, hand grenades and suicide-outfits, there are modern high-calibre artillery, even a whole fighter plane squad including runways and hangars and even a whole shipyard with half-finished submarines were found there. The high-profile technology for this military purposes as well as essential components come from Switzerland (construction plans), Norway (steel, tools satellite communications), Germany (night vision devices, compasses), Czech Republic (planes) underwater diving scooters and generators (Sweden).

The INGOs leaving the Vanni reacted on their eviction at first loudly dismayed – and then offended. They immediately accused and suspected the government: Genocide, they cried, the government wanted to have no disturbing witnesses of the war crimes. Not the government, only they, the assumedly neutral INGOs, were wanting to safeguard themselves at any cost. What irreparable damage would it be to their heavenly humanitarian image if the donors really knew what these INGOs were up in Vanni?
Hectically and without evaluation they published „news items“ with great consternation, according to which the government troops had bombed a hospital and used internationally condemned cluster bombs as well as napalm for this purpose. Only to admit later, that they had been fooled – like so often before – by the aggressive propaganda of the LTTE terrorists, which is still working under high pressure and quite obviously functioning.

And now the signs are increasing that the evicted INGOs will „cut the lifeline“ for Sri Lanka altogether. A boardmember of a foundation operating in Sri Lanka, who does not want to be named said, “well, if all these accusations go public, our donors could also think twice“. The INGOs send no funds anymore to local relief- and charity organizations. Functioning projects in the whole country suddenly may not control the funds actually promised by their big international partners, as the international collectors of donations have stopped supporting them.

Many small projects, local associations and foundation could not do the good things they do on their own. Projects like a successful child assistance organisation in Meegoda, where a newly constructed house for street children are offered healthy food, a roof over their heads, a bed, expert counselling, school, education – and some peace. And now those admirable people running the place have to face the sad fact: How long will this still last? This beneficial institution 30km southeast of Colombo is threatened with closure as well as for instance another project in Seenigama, shortly before the tourism centre of Hikkaduwa, which was almost destroyed completely by the tsunami, offering children and youth from poor family education and training.

Is this the subtle revenge of the INGOs for their eviction? Have these „sympathy-industrialists“ suddenly lost interest in Sri Lanka because of this? Do these relief organization assume that if the Sri Lanka government does not do what they want, then it will have to face the results, without them and their donations?
Maybe there are more important and more urgent matters to clear up right now, while the war is still raging, while the last high-handed LTTE-chieftains let their slavey and cruel suicide bombers from the leash, while thousands of innocent children and women are misused by the cowardly gang of terrorists as human shields.

However, after the war at last it sould be allowed to examin what the INGOs have done, and they should be taken to account, they should be asked many many questions. It will be interesting to find out, in the name of the many international donors, which have given funds in good faith, what happened to all the funds, why so many relief goods have ended up in the bloody hands the ruthless cadres of the LTTE and not with the needy Tamil population in the north of the tormented island nation, why the INGOs did not report earlier – and more open, that they were not really able to assist the people in the areas controlled by the LTTE, why those oh so independent INGOs let themselves turn into henchmen of the murderous terrorist gang, and why they outrageously leave alone other projects, that had been functioning up to now, why they are cutting off the roots of functioning relief projects suddenly, thus finally taking away from them the chance to prove themselves in a sustainable, independent way.

It almost seems that this is actually the goal of the INGOs: “Look here, without us, and our generous INGO assistance you are – nothing ! If you don’t dance to our tune, we will see that you never stand up on your own feet, because your recovery is our death“.

It also seems like certain INGOs - specially from Germany - are trying to lay the ground work to bring certain Sri Lankan government officials and keyplayers to international courts under the violations of international human rights. Then however, if this is the case, the same international courts should also examine how far the INGOs have overstepped their humanitarian mandate and supported the existence of a terrorist organisation which has led Sri Lanka to this gruesome war killing thousands. And why are these INGOs not talking about the human rights violations of the LTTE ?

After all the law is equal for all, isn’t it?

There is no better way to exhibit to the whole world how Sri Lanka is under subtle and effective form of terrorism and chauvinistic racism from the so-called western humanitarian INGOs.

-Sri Lanka Guardian