by Jehan Perera
Some of the worst affected areas are in the North and East which were subjected earlier to the brunt of the thirty year war. People who were displaced on multiple occasions during that period have been displaced again. In many instances the little possessions they had, and the capital they had managed to build up, has been lost once again. Their need for physical restitution is immense. The problem is that the government is cash strapped despite its inclination to have grand celebrations and to claim rapid economic growth and bright prospects for the future. At the same time its ideology of proud nationalism has not permitted it to easily ask the world outside for assistance.
The government could not have anticipated the second round of flooding when it went ahead with its plans for an impressive celebration on Independence Day on February 4. The government has shown itself willing to readily expend the resources of the national exchequer when it is deemed necessary to appreciate an occasion. On the other hand, the government had advance notice that the first round of flooding had driven out hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and into temporary welfare camps and lay waste to tens of thousands of hectares of agricultural land. The government’s partiality for grand shows suffers the risk of being counterproductive.
Pragmatic assessment
The repeated celebrations and military shows after the war victory have also played a significant role in alienating the ethnic minorities, especially the Tamil minority, that bore the brunt of the war. A more prudent attitude might have given emphasis to the sufferings of the people. The rejoicing over the defeat of the LTTE and the end of its terrorism could have been supplemented by an assessment of the human costs of the war and its sober commemoration. The Independence Day celebration could have been similarly accompanied by an acknowledgement of the sufferings of over a million people at the present time. But the political thrust of the President’s speech was one of victory without victims, in this case economic victory.
The combination of local and international crises is impelling the government to change its strategies in dealing with the international community and non-governmental organizations. The catastrophic floods in Sri Lanka have driven up food prices to the consternation of the population especially those in urban areas. The uprising in Egypt is causing instability in the petroleum producing Middle East and is driving up oil prices and that is already having repercussions on the prices of fuel within the country. Both of these crises have come just after the government declared local government elections. The outcome of these elections, although not crucial in terms of central power, can send a signal to the people in general that the government’s popularity is on the wane and embolden the opposition which is drawing parallels to Egypt.
In this context, a successful demonstration by the government that it is able to obtain humanitarian assistance from the international community to meet the needs of the people can do much to help the government shore up its electoral strength. In recent weeks the government has shown a change of policy in regard to collaborating with the international community on humanitarian issues. It issued a joint appeal together with the UN for flood relief. It also came up with a common action plan with NGOs that makes them partners and gives them a place in the post-war recovery and reconstruction process. This change of heart is undoubtedly due to the government’s very pragmatic realization that it cannot handle the challenge of meeting the people’s needs by itself.
Matching assistance
The government’s present stance is in contrast to its earlier stance. In the immediate aftermath of the war the government adopted a broadly critical, and even hostile, attitude towards non-governmental organizations and the international community. Together with its nationalist allies, the government construed the support given for a negotiated political solution that included the LTTE as being detrimental to the country’s unity and sovereignty. In addition, the allegations of war crimes against the government in the course of the war levelled by sections of the NGOs and international community have served to create an environment of suspicion and confrontation, which is not conducive to the seeking of assistance even in a crisis.
With the extensive damage severely testing its capacities on 10 January 2011 the government officially requested United Nations relief assistance in support of its efforts. Based on needs assessments, the government and UN prioritized critical needs for food security, immediate agricultural and livelihood interventions, shelter and non-food items, health and nutrition, water-sanitation-hygiene, and education to meet the humanitarian needs in the flood and landslide-affected districts. The flash appeal sought USD 51 million to enable international partners, including local and international NGOs, to support the government in addressing the needs of more than one million flood-affected people over the next six months.
A few weeks later, on 1 February the UN announced that the government joined with it and NGOs and humanitarian groups, to launch a plan of assistance to help the people in the north recover and rebuild after a 25-year civil war. The one-year "Joint Plan for Assistance for Northern Province" sets priority activities and strategies for 2011. It provides a framework for meeting immediate needs, as well as short-and medium term recovery efforts, including building shelters and homes, supporting agriculture, improving health and nutrition, clearing mines, and strengthening civil administration. The pragmatism shown by the government in obtaining assistance to address the challenges posed by the victims of war and floods needs to be matched by NGOs and the international community.
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