TRO delisted as charity organisation in UK
 

by T. Chandrasekera

The British Charity Commission has decided to remove from the list of registered charities, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization which the LTTE operated in the UK as the foreign aid collecting agency during the past several years. The LTTE collected foreign aid under the guise of rehabilitating the Tamils in the war torn North and East areas.

The decision to delist the TRO was allegedly taken two days prior to the assassination of the late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.

As seen by international political analysts, the delisting of the TRO from the list of charity institutions in the UK is a serious blow on the LTTE fund raising mechanism and a manifestation of the drastic change of in the perception of the international community vis a vis the LTTE.

Under the delisting, collection of funds, propaganda work and many other activities including running offices by the TRO stand banned in the United Kingdom.

Efforts by the LTTE to have the TRO registered as a charity organization in Australia and Canada too have failed.

Speaking on the delisting, the Spokesman for the British Charity Commission told the media that a report on the activities of the TRO from the year 2000 revealed the TRO's links with the LTTE and since the LTTE is a banned organization in the UK, the decision to delist the TRO had to be taken.

The LTTE received financial aid for their organization throughout the past 20 years through the TRO in the guise of rehabilitating the people of the war torn North and East. Tamils domiciled in foreign countries too sent their regular aid to this institution.

In addition, the tsunami disaster of December 26 last year augmented the flow of international aid to the LTTE through the TRO which had its registration with the British Charity Commission as a charity institution.