Tears of our own – a visit to an IDP camp

(This first hand report has been compiled by a Tamil resident of Colombo recently visiting relatives in an IDP Camp in Vavuniya.)

(May 14, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) There are many known and unknown reasons for the people who were in the No Fire Zone, in the strip of unsheltered land in northeast Sri Lanka, to cross over to the Sri Lankan government controlled area. Though in reality, the NFZ has in recent days seen fierce fighting, the severe starvation, uninterrupted shelling and use of deadly weapons against the innocent civilians by the Sri Lankan forces with the LTTE crossfire, made escape the only alternative from permanently living in fear of the unknown. But there could also be many other unknown reasons.

Under the guise of the largest humanitarian liberation, unbearable human suffering and living condition, is being experienced. Witnessing one’s own loved ones getting wounded and killed or dying without proper medical care is appalling. Without challenging the reasons to believe either in the merciful hand of the government or the ability of the liberation struggle for their sustenance, hundreds had no choice but to cross over, with the stench of death and pain and suffering of the wounded, to so called “safety”. The hard rules of LTTE for not issuing the passes to those who wished to leave the area and the forced conscription of youth, one after another from the same family, could also have pushed them to the brink to make “the” decision to leave their Vanni territory.

Where are they now? They are in open prisons. The government of Sri Lanka calls them “Welfare Centres” but the people feel that they are like animals in the zoological gardens. In the zoological gardens, the animals are well fed and protected, but hardly for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP’s). The government officials, the government supporting Tamil members of parliament, some religious leaders, the foreign dignitaries, who visit the camps under government sponsorship or directives, boast that the IDP’s are well taken care of.

My recent visit to Vavuniya and the first hand exposure to some of the camps prove that the government is incompetent and utterly inefficient in taking care of these people who have crossed over with little trust in the government. But the question is: “Where do the foreign donations directed and donated to these IDP’s go?”

First, I wish to highlight the living conditions of these camps. The tin sheet roofed and tin sheet enclosed huts, have to accommodate eight persons. It is too crowded but manageable if it is accommodating an eight member family. But the main difficulty is that if a family has six members, the officials bring two others from an unknown family and they too are packed into one house, then there is a major problem. To put up young men with a family which has young daughters or a young wife, for the sake of accommodation, is adding to the problem. This is really traumatic even if it is a temporary shelter.

The second major difficulty is the accessibility. Relations are not allowed to visit them and listen to them. Dispersal in various camps is causing anxiety. There are lots of people who travel towards the IDP camps but have to wait for long hours without being able to visit their loved ones. A case in point recently, when a Catholic priest and his own brother were not allowed to visit their sister who is a religious, just returned from the No Fire Zone. On my earlier visit, I experienced some close relatives who had come to Vavuniya to visit their internally displaced loved ones, were sent back at the Medawachchiya security check point. The relations go through agonizing hours because they are Tamils and the ones whom they are seeking are Tamils. The scrutiny at check points is much to be desired.

Thirdly, the surroundings of these welfare centers are very unhygienic, and dirty. The unhealthy surroundings and atmosphere for the IDP’s, is atrociously unsanitary. The toilets are not properly maintained. There is no proper management of waste. Therefore, the whole area is filled with dirt. At the Puarasakulam Hospital (Chicken Pox Hospital) the stench and the surroundings of the thatched cadjan roof and tin sheet patient Wards makes the spread of contagious disease easy and imminent. The skeletal and empty king coconut husks, the dung of the stray cattle, stray dogs and cats which loiter around, make the surroundings and even Wards so filthy. The religious sisters who serve the patients voluntarily have to sweep the surroundings, clean the toilets and perform menial tasks as there isn’t any governmental labour structure to clean the hospital surroundings.

The fourth difficulty is the food shortage. The government media and the politicians boast that these IDP’s are well fed and looked after. They have their lunch packets at about 3.30 p.m. which were parceled early in the morning and their dinner is served closer to midnight. In reality, no organization will be able to supply food to so many thousands of IDP’s efficiently because of the limitations of the infrastructure. The major contributors of the food supply are the Christian Organizations, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and the Catholic Parish communities of Mannar diocese. This haphazard way of distribution of food and other essentials, exhibit that beggars have been weaned out of these IDP’s.

We need to keep in mind there were no beggars in the Vanni as most were gainfully employed. Most of them had their own paddy fields in the fertile Vanni, their cattle and poultry were looked after. Many others were government servants. Their inability to select their food items and the frequent unfavorable condition of food packets cause more in hygiene to these suffering people.

Fifthly, another major and the most painful gnawing problem is that these internally displaced people do not know the plans for their own future. They are at this moment caged and somewhat fed. Well-wishers and charities from other parts of the Island have become compassionate to IDP’s predicament and suffering, have sent parcels of clothing for distribution into camps. But it is essential that these IDP’s as human persons have the right to know about their future. The government has not articulated such a plan although there is much media hype of moving them on to their original homes.

We are aware of the recent resettlement of the IDP’s of Silathurai and Arrippu after about two year’s displacement in Nanattam. Yet, the Government has not provided any basic facilities such as housing, water and their fishing needs, although there was a news item showing the Government politicians handing over a gift of a boat which was only a token show piece.

I noticed that many of the IDP’s I met get frightened when their young children are segregated from them into another camp for rehabilitation. “What will happen to them? What is rehabilitation? Will they come back?” these are the questions raised the minds of the IDP parents. Most of these parents of the young boys and girls who crossed over have serious concerns of their children being conscripted again. Once again they are scared. The displaced children who have come from Vanni have lost their schooling for about five months as they were fleeing for dear life. “Are we going back to our known surroundings? If Yes, then When? If not, till when are we going to be here? What are the plans for our children’s education?” these are the legitimate questions of these IDP’s which the government has yet to answer.

I also wish to highlight the distress ordinary people encounter for travel through to come to Colombo from Vavuniya and the persons to visit their relatives in the camps and hospitals in Vavuniya, by train. On the way to Vavuniya, at Anuradhapura train station the passengers and their baggage are checked. Within an hour, in Medawachchiya, the passengers have to get down to register and re- check themselves and to check their luggage. The people have to linger for more than an hour and half. The return journey is miserable. The passengers have to report before eleven o’ clock at the Vavuniya railway station for the 1 p.m. train. They are checked with their baggage and registered. The train itself is checked for an hour soon after it arrives at the Vavuniya station. The train reaches Medawachchiya at 2.15 p.m. and again people have to get down for a recheck of baggage and for re-registration. The undue long queues, with people rushing to the checking areas, the whims of the checking security personnel, the long stay at the Medawachchiya station and recheck of the train till 4.00 p.m., make people agitated, frustrated, suspected and restless. Then in Anuradhapura, once again the passengers are checked after a forty five minutes journey from Medawachchiya prior to reboarding the train. No one is able to ascertain these double check and re- registration towards Colombo? The simple answer is that the Government does not trust the majority of the Tamil travelers towards Colombo. The old, infirm, pregnant mothers, feeding mothers, little children are the worst sufferers of this senseless decision of delaying the journey to Colombo.

Realistically, the Sri Lankan government is unable to handle this situation as it lacks vision, human management and planning. It can utilize the other International and local non-governmental organizations, the Christian organizations such as Caritas, JRS, the ICRC, Red Crescent and all other people of goodwill to ease the suffering of these IDP’s, but is suspicious of the motives of international aid. Much can be done through existing local charities to help alleviate this distress, perhaps organization is lacking due to the commitment to war.

During the Tsunami too, the Sri Lanka government failed to be effective in handling the crisis of the suffering people and rehabilitating their lives for the future. In that instance too, the most important task of building houses, rehabilitation was done by the INGO’s, NGO’s, Christian Volunteers, Church organizations and people of goodwill. One can count the few houses the Government built for these Tsunami victims in comparison to the houses built by other volunteer organizations and one is ashamed of the lack of action or rather the will to commit. Though the funds and donations were channeled through the government, much of what is on show today is through the effort of Voluntary Agencies.

The main obstacle for such collaboration with the volunteer organizations of goodwill is the suspicion which lies within the government administration towards INGO’s, who have been thought as helping the LTTE. The Government further rarely allows the religious people to visit the displaced people and to, listen to their pain.

As a first step to reconciliation, is to build trust. Relationships have to be strengthened. Secondly, the Government has to present a viable plan of action to the IDP’s about their future. A plan of action for resettlement of the internally displaced is needed and transparency needs to be maintained to gain the confidence of the displaced. This is bound to take time,

-Sri Lanka Guardian