An Open Letter to Western Countries

United Sri Lanka­Homeland for Tamils­ Lasting Solutions

End of War: Sri Lanka has reached the end of its war against the internationally banned terrorist organisation Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) who are fighting to carve out a separate country in Sri Lanka covering 1/3 of the country and 2/3 of the coastline for a tiny minority of the population. Many Tamils around the world consider LTTE as their representative and at the same time many Tamils loath them as terrorists. Like our forefathers, we are going to conclude this war to safeguard the unity, independence and territorial integrity of our nation regardless of the brutal terrorism and neo-colonial threats and interferences. The military victory will pave the way to implement a lasting socio-political solution for our internal ethnic conflict without any hindrance from terrorism.

Land Mines: As you are aware thousands of Tamil civilians have escaped from LTTE controlled areas of the war zone to the government run welfare centres. The North and East of Sri Lanka are full of land mines laid by the LTTE and it is an extremely dangerous place to live let alone to raise anyone’s children. We cannot allow any of our fellow citizens who have been rescued from the terrorists to be victims of land mines.

Ground Realities: Our resources are stretched to the limit and it is not realistic for us to resettle the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) immediately as Western countries demand. We are also unable to provide them with luxurious camping grounds that are similar to camping grounds provided to Italian victims of recent earthquakes or Australian victims of recent bush fires. However, Italians and Australians are still living in temporary relief camps and the respective governments expect that it would take months and years to resettle these victims of natural disasters. Many victims of Hurricane Katrina in the USA are still in temporary shelters and some have recently been ordered out of their temporary accommodation without providing any meaningful resettlement. Thousands of refugees created by “War on Terror” led by the USA and its allies in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are still living in squalor conditions. The vast majority of Australian Aboriginals even without a war are still living in inhumane conditions after 200 years of white settlement. It is very clear that even the developed countries are struggling to meet the expectations of the victims of their own wars, natural disasters and historical wrongdoings against the native people.

Double Standards: Yet, Western countries demand Sri Lanka to provide the highest standard of resettlement services to Sri Lankan IDPs which they themselves cannot provide to their own citizens and the victims of their own policies and actions. Thus, it is only realistic to expect that Sri Lanka will face serious difficulties in addressing the multitude of needs of thousands of internally displaced people. The undying goodwill of Sri Lankans towards their fellow citizens who are in temporary welfare centres alone would not be good enough to satisfy the expectations and needs of internally displaced people let alone the expectations of Western countries and some so called international “human rights organisations”.

Solutions: We are determined to explore all possible solutions to look after our fellow countrymen and women who are the victims of Western colonialism, and neo-colonialism, regional power play, international politics, terrorism and the resultant civil war. Currently, we have over 200,000 internally displaced people in Sri Lanka. A careful analysis of our resources, internal and external political factors, our history and long term desires of many Sri Lankan Tamils, desires of Sri Lankans who are not Tamil and the Western countries, we came to conclude that the best available solution for Tamil IDPs and other Sri Lankan Tamils who feel discriminated is to resettle them in countries that are the most vocal about their wellbeing and have the capacity and eagerness to “look after them well”. We can implement this solution in five stages:

Stage I-Home for Tamil IDPs: All Western countries accept first 200,000 IDPs by the end of 2009 and grant them with temporary residency for 5 years so that they can join their family members already living in these countries. Grant them permanent residency should they wish to call your country their permanent home at the end of the five years. The Western Governments, International Non Government Organisations and Tamil Diaspora can work closely to help them resettle. This strategy will bring an immediate end to the sufferings of Tamil IDPs and would be the most cost effective and economically beneficial for the host countries as all the funds stays in their own countries. All international agencies can visit these IDPs at anytime with no restrictions to see their wellbeing. At the end of the five years those who wish to return to Sri Lanka can resettle back in Sri Lanka.

Stage II-Home for Non IDP Tamils: Issue a five year temporary residence visa and open invitation to Sri Lankan Tamils who are not IDPs and living in Sri Lanka to join their relatives and fellow Tamils in the Western countries by the end 2010. At the end of five years you can grant them permanent residency if they wish to call your country their permanent home. This gives the opportunity to Sri Lankan Tamils who feel that they are discriminated in Sri Lanka to resettle in the Western countries where they feel at home.

Stage III-Tamil Nadu for Home: By the end of 2010 provide a permanent home in Tamil Nadu for Sri Lankan Tamils who feel discriminated in Sri Lanka and are not comfortable in moving to Western countries. This would provide an opportunity for Tamil Nadu Tamils who are concerned about the wellbeing of fellow Tamils to help and look after Sri Lankan Tamils who find a permanent home in their State.

Stage IV-Sri Lanka for Home: By the end of 2010 all Tamils who feel discriminated in Sri Lanka have been resettled in countries where they feel at home. Only the Tamils who feel Sri Lanka is the best place for them are left in Sri Lanka and this is their own choice. By now all remaining terrorist who have masked themselves as civilians must have either migrated to the West or been arrested and rehabilitated by the Sri Lankan government. Therefore, we do not expect any internal militant campaign of ethnic rights for a long time to come. Sri Lankan people will force the Sri Lankan government of the day to start implementing all necessary practical social, economic and political reforms to all sectors of Sri Lankan economy and society to provide equal rights and opportunities for all communities in Sri Lanka.

Stage V-United Sri Lanka: By the end of 2015 every Sri Lankan Tamil in Sri Lanka and overseas will have at least five years of time to analyse the progress of Sri Lankan social, economic and political reforms and the five years of living experience in Western countries to make an informed decision to choose the place they want to call home. We are confident that five years of settlement experience will tell our Tamil brothers and sisters the myths and realities of the Western societies and the comparable life in Sri Lanka. All Sri Lankan Tamils who feel their host countries are better place to call home can choose to stay in these countries and those who feel that they wish to call Sri Lanka home can return to Sri Lanka. Those Tamils who stayed back in Sri Lanka by their own wish can also make their final decision and decide either to continue to stay in Sri Lanka or resettle in a Western country. However, 2015 onwards as a precondition for Sri Lankan citizenship or residency people must uphold and safeguard the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka regardless of their ethnicity and advocacy for a separate country in any form is punishable by life imprisonment.

Humane Solution: This is a very humane, practical, realistic and lasting solution that meets the expectations of all parties concerned. Tamils who are longing for permanent home will have peaceful first world countries to call home. Tamil Diaspora who are worried about the wellbeing of fellow Tamils now have their compatriots joined them. Westerners and Indian politicians who are worried about the wellbeing of Tamils can be happy as Tamils are happy with their new found peaceful and first world life style. Western “Human Rights Organisations” and Western media that are more concerned about Tamil rights and Tamil civilians than Pakistani, Afghani or Iraqi civilians can now be happy as Tamils are protected by their own governments and lastly the Sri Lankans who wants protect their country from terrorism and neo-colonialism and disintegration have the assurance of territorial integrity of their country. It is the only lasting solution, because Sri Lankans will fight to the last man, women and child to protect the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. So any solution that has a hidden agenda for separation will end up in another bloodbath. This is the only solution that would convince Tamils to give up their unrealistic dream of Elam. Realistically, there is no place in the world where one can provide a sovereign state for millions of Tamils living around the world unless India and Western countries are happy to declare the Indian State of Tamil Nadu, historical homeland of Tamils as the Independent Tamil State.

Own Affairs: In light of this, you will have the opportunity to stay out of Sri Lankan ethnic politics and concentrate on managing your own affairs that are engulfed by global economic crisis and “War on Terror”. You can also direct all your energies to look after thousands of Tamils to resettle in your respective countries. Especially, you must protect our Tamil brothers and sisters from neo-Nazis and KKK. You can provide them with equal opportunities in employment regardless of their Sri Lankan accent and lack of Western experience. Initially, as it is the accepted practice in Western countries with regards to new migrants, you can help Tamils to secure three D (Difficult, Dirty and Dangerous) jobs that Westerners do not want to do and make a living and save some funds while on their temporary visa. This would be beneficial to your economy as well as to Tamils. We, Sri Lankans can also direct all our energies to manage our own affairs and return our country to the glory days of our history and live happily ever after harmoniously.

Place to Call Home: As you have witnessed through the recent global demonstrations by thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils from Washington to Melbourne, they have perfectly adapted Western values of democracy. They are more than happy to call Western countries their home. It is unlikely they wish to trade their peaceful new home in your country to developing nation Sri Lanka. Thus, the new Sri Lankan Tamils you would accept would not have any difficulties in calling your country their home should they wish so. Tamils are a proud race of people and they have contributed enormously to human civilisation. We are confident that Sri Lankan Tamils will contribute enormously to the betterment and advancement of your society as they have done in Sri Lanka and other parts of the world. In light of this, we urge you to seriously consider the above solutions for the current Sri Lankan crisis and help thousands of displaced and dissatisfied Tamils by granting them a permanent place to call their home in your country. This could be the only lasting solution for addressing the needs of the vast majority of Tamils and satisfy the concerns of other parties. We Sri Lankans would be eternally grateful to you and your people if you could look after our Tamil brothers and sisters at this hour of desperate need. We are confident that our Tamil brothers and sisters would be forever grateful to you for granting them permanent place in your country to call home.

By Ruhunu Warnakulasuriya
source:Lankaweb