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Plight of the displaced

There is hardly a war that does not leave ordinary people unscathed. Wars leave a trail of destruction, ruining ordinary lives.

Tragic deaths of civilians apart, wars force whole families to flee towns and villages as combatants aim their guns at each other.

Sri Lanka, which has seen an internal conflict for two decades, is no exception to this rule. Residents of the North-East were the first victims of the escalation in the fighting between government troops and the LTTE. Thousands of civilians paid with their lives and thousands of others are still suffering, away from their homes, in refugee camps in Sri Lanka and India.

A recent survey revealed that there are about 664,251 displaced persons in Sri Lanka alone including those living with their relatives. A further 66,000 Lankan refugees live in India.

With hopes for peace rising, many internally displaced persons (IDPs) and Lankan refugees in India have expressed their willingness to resettle in their own villages and towns. Some have gone a step further; they have returned to their former dwellings despite warnings by the government and international agencies that many areas are still not 100 per cent safe for civilian habitation.

According to a report that we frontpaged on Saturday, IDPs are continuing to spontaneously flood back to their previous homes in heavily mined areas of the North and East faster than they can be cleared despite warnings from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Over 2,000 refugees and IDPs have returned to Jaffna over the past two months alone.

Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Refugees Minister Jayalath Jayawardane echoed similar views during a recent visit to camps housing Sri Lankan refugees in India. Commenting on the fact that several refugees have made a hazardous sea journey back to their Motherland, Minister Jayawardane urged their brethren to wait until the conditions are 100 per cent for their resettlement.

There is no doubt that things are heading in this direction. Mines are being cleared by international agencies; roads are being opened for easy civilian access to previously out-of-bounds-areas; travel arrangements for civilians are being streamlined.

All these will come to nought if the core issue of peace is forgotten, for a peaceful atmosphere is essential for civilians to resume their normal lives. IDPs can take heart that both sides are moving purposefully towards direct peace talks with Norwegian mediation.

In the meantime, the government and other agencies must do everything in their power to assure better facilities for Lankans living in refugee camps in their own country and India. It is true that budgetary constraints could hinder the provision of more facilities for IDPs, but the government must explore the possibility of getting more foreign assistance for such work.

It must be borne in mind that most IDPs and refugees living in India have no identity or travel documents with them. The government machinery must act fast to provide such documents to these persons to ensure that they can integrate themselves into society as soon as peace dawns, for they are also Sri Lankans like the rest of us.

Ideally, the day that peace dawns and all Lankans begin to live in their own areas would be the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Sri Lanka.

Let's raise our cricket

The way India's young cricketers bludgeoned their way to a memorable victory in Saturday's One-day final against England at the Lord's Cricket ground showed a fighting spirit our own cricketers were once known to have exhibited.

Our batsmen in particular have achieved some spectacular run chases that have drawn large crowds to cricket grounds around the world.

No doubt our own Cricket fans are despondent at their team's showing in England where we lost the Test series and crashed out of the One-day triangular tournament.

Cricket is, after all, a game and we cannot win every time, but the flair and spirit our teams have traditionally shown are what endeared our players to their fans.

But on this tour that fire was lacking, and all those responsible for the performance, be it the administrators, the coaches and the players, must find a way to rekindle that flame.

We have the opportunity in the upcoming tour by Bangladesh to redraw strategies and get back on the winning trail.

So let's take the chance and get going once again.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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