DATE=12/21/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=SRI LANKA WAR IMPACT
NUMBER=5-45069
BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE
DATELINE=COLOMBO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Sri Lankans are voting this week in a
presidential election marred by bitter accusations and
violence. Bomb blasts Saturday, on the last night of
campaigning, killed more than 30 people including a
top opposition figure. Sri Lankan incumbent President
Chandrika Kumaratunga narrowly missed being killed in
one of the attacks which police are blaming on Tamil
separatists. The war between government forces and
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam shows no sign of
ending, no matter who wins this week's presidential
election. V-O-A's Jim Teeple has more in this
background report from Colombo.
TEXT:
// ACTUALITY OF CHILDREN SINGGING, IN AND
UNDER TEXT //
TEXT: There are nearly 400 orphans at the Sri
Jayawardne Pura Vajra Children's Home. The orphanage
-- which is in quiet neighborhood of Sri Lanka's
capital -- Colombo is so full children must wait in
long lines at mealtime. Most stand quietly waiting
their turn. Many have seen their parents killed in
Sri Lanka's 16-year war between Tamil separatists and
government forces.
Nilmini -- a teacher at the orphanage -- says many of
the children, who range in age from two months to 18
years, suffer psychological problems.
// NILMINI ACTUALITY //
They have a lot of mental problems. Some, when they
sleep, scream -- they hear bomb blasts. Some do bed
wetting and things like that. They are always telling
about the bombs. Actually they saw their parents
killed.
// END ACTUALITY //
Most of the children at the orphanage are Sinhalese,
but there are many Tamils as well. Ethnic tensions
between the two groups surfaced after independence in
1948. In 1983, Tamil separatists -- alleging
continued discrimination at the hands of the Sinhalese
majority -- began their long violent struggle to carve
a separate homeland out of the northern and eastern
parts of the country.
Since then, more than 60 thousand people have died in
civil strife pitting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Elam against Sri Lankan government troops. The
hundreds of children at the Sri Jayawardne Pura Vajra
Children's Home are the sons and daughters of just a
small fraction of the victims.
// OPT // Five months ago, 12-year-old Siromi was
living with her parents and younger brother near
Trincomalee, along Sri Lanka's northeast coast. One
morning as she returned from the neighborhood store,
Siromi saw her brother hiding along the road leading
to their house. According to officials at the
orphanage, Tamil Tiger separatists had just killed
both of their parents. Siromi says she is still sad,
but her new friends at the orphanage help her feel
better.
// OPTIONAL LANGUAGE/TRANSLATOR
ACTUALITY OF CHILD //
I lost my parents. I feel very sorry. When I first
came here I cried and felt very sorry, but now I have
a lot of friends, and now I am a little bit happy.
// END OPTIONAL ACTUALITY //
Nearly two decades of violent conflict have left their
mark on the people of Sri Lanka. Sunila Abeyesekera
directs INFORM -- a human rights organization which
works to help victims of the war -- regardless of
their ethnic background. Ms. Abeyesekera says what
she sees makes her worried for the future of her
country.
// ABEYESEKERA ACTUALITY //
We often encounter people, especially children and
young adults, who are very damaged people. They have
no sense of community. They have no sense that people
can be good to each other. They have no sense that
people can look out for one another or that there is
anything called a stable and secure life. I am
speaking about children who are 16 years old now and
who have never really had a peaceful night's sleep in
their entire life.
// END ACTUALITY //
Sunila Abeyesekera says violence against women and
children in Sri Lankan society is at epidemic
proportions -- something she says is a direct result
of the long years of civil strife and the toll that
violence has taken on ordinary people. Most Sri
Lankans say they are pessimistic about any end to the
fighting. Despite rumors of peace talks and
proposals for future discussions, the war goes on. In
recent weeks fighting has intensified in northern
parts of the country as the Tamil Tigers have sought
to re-capture areas they lost to Sri Lanka's army
several years ago.
Many Tamils also say -- even though the government has
repealed discriminatory laws against their community -
- they remain outside the mainstream and under
suspicion from the Sinhalese majority. S-K
Vickneaswaram edits "SARINIHAR," a Tamil newspaper
published in Colombo. He says many Tamils do not want
to join the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, but many
will continue to do as long as Sri Lanka's army
remains in Tamil areas in the northern and eastern
parts of the country.
// VICKNEASWARAM ACTUALITY //
The people who are there in that area have no option
other than fighting. Most of the people join the L-T-
T-E not because they like the L-T-T-E or because they
want to fight and gain freedom. The thing is they
have no other alternative. All the people there are
branded as L-T-T-E -- everybody is a suspect.
Everybody's house is searched and in my opinion it is
natural that people -- when their area is occupied by
the military and that military cannot speak or
understand their language or knows anything about
their lives -- well there is always the possibility of
a fight unless the problem is solved.
// END ACTUALITY //
S-K Vickneaswaram says the only way the war will end
will be through direct talks between Sri Lanka's
mainstream parties and the Tamil Tigers. And, he
admits is not likely to happen as long as heavy
fighting continues in the northern part of the country
-- and as long as the Tamil Tigers continue to try and
kill leading politicians in suicide bomb attacks.
(Signed)
neb/jlt/WD
21-Dec-1999 04:19 AM EDT (21-Dec-1999 0919 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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