"As we are in our last week of the program it has been crazy busy. We have our public seminar tomorrow where we have the opportunity to present our work completed over the last three months. This week has been spent in preparation and attending last minute celebrations. On Tuesday evening the Bangkapi Rotary club held a special dinner for all the Peace Fellows which was a lovely event with many participants wearing their national dress. The evening was celebrated with a lovely dinner and Karoke of all things!
The field trip to Sri Lanka was a fantastic experience. We were exposed to some amazing speakers from local community, government, the military and local clergy / religious leaders. As you would be aware the country was at war for many years with a resolution occurring in 2009. It was a very violent end to the war with the government, through its military putting an end to the Liberation Tamil Tigers by executing approximately 40,000 Tamil’s over a two week period. It appears to this day that the army maintains a lot of the power within the community.
During our visit we studied the conflict and underlying root causes and possible ways for the country to move forward. Transitional Justice was proposed about four year ago and although the government agreed it has moved very slowly and really there has been no traction towards Rehabilitation or Reconciliation.
The Northern Province of Sri Lanka has a very high population of Tamil people and it has experienced a high level of military presence. The ratio is said to be 1:3 civilians. The army currently has in its possession approximately 5,000 acres of land. This land was acquired during the war and is supposed to be returned to the Tamil people however this has been a very slow process and when the land is returned the army occupies the adjacent land allowing them to keep the civilians under scrutiny which means they are never truly free.
The power that the army has is perpetuated with the support of the government who over the years have promoted army personnel who have been responsible for enforced disappearances. And although there is evidence to support Human Rights violations the government quashes the evidence and will not release the reports that detail same and instead allow the army to grow. This causes trust issues within the community and until changes are made moving forward is impossible.
It was said during our visit that “reconciliation and peace starts with your heart and mind”. The current situation with the military demonstrate they don’t hold these things dear to them. There is a real lack of trust amongst the people and until this can be changed reconciliation cannot commence.
What appeared clear to me is that the issue does not appear to be between the people of the different communities. They appear to live in harmony or at least that is the case in the Northern Province of Jaffna where I heard many stories of Tamil people marrying Sinhalese which only cements in my mind that the current situation is very much a matter of politics and oppression from the government.
Overall the visit to Sri Lanka was a wonderful experience and really allowed us to study all our learnings from the program.
I look forward to sharing with you further upon my return." Kelly Lawson
