Take Action Now: Stand up for the displaced in Sri Lanka

Over 250,000 people remain detained in crowded, unsanitary conditions in Sri Lanka. Read on to learn what you can do about it.

What's happening in Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka has been wracked for decades by a civil war between the government and the opposition Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which sought an independent state for the Tamil minority in the north and east of the island. During 2006 - 2009, the Sri Lankan military waged a series of offensives, forcing the LTTE into a progressively smaller area before eventually overrunning their territory in the northeast and killing their senior leaders, thus ending the war. In the final months of the conflict, the LTTE had forced thousands of civilians to stay in the war zone as human shields and prevented them from leaving. Repeated shelling and bombing of the area killed more than 7,000 civilians and injured at least another 13,000. Since the end of the fighting, the Sri Lankan government has refused access into the war zone to journalists and aid agencies; the fate of those civilians still in the war zone in its final days is unclear.

Over 280,000 civilians who had earlier fled the war zone have been placed by the government in overcrowded internment camps controlled by the military, which they are prevented from leaving.

Only a fraction of nearly 300,000 people who were displaced by recent fighting in the north east of Sri Lanka have been allowed to leave government camps since the war ended in May. More than a quarter of a million people remain detained and under military guard in crowded, unsanitary conditions that are still far below international standards. Civilians are also being subjected to a screening process to separate LTTE fighters from civilians. The process does not protect the rights of those being screened. There are reports of men disappearing after being screened by the security forces.

What can I do about it?
Write to the President of Sri Lanka expressing your concern for the nearly 300,000 people displaced by the recent fighting. Ask that the displaced civilians immediately be given freedom of movement: those who wish to leave the camps should be allowed to do so.

Take action online: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=12651

Sample Letter:
"Early in 2009, over 280,000 civilians fled the war zone in northeast Sri Lanka as the Sri Lankan military reconquered all the territory held by the opposition Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and killed their senior leaders, thus ending the 26-year-old conflict. Since the conclusion of hostilities in mid-May, the displaced civilians have been held in overcrowded, military-run internment camps. The Sri Lankan government will not allow the civilians to leave the camps until a screening process to detect suspected LTTE fighters among the civilians has been carried out. Aid agencies, journalists and human rights observers have not been given full access to the camps. Without independent monitors in the camps, the civilians are at risk of human rights abuses from the security forces.
I call on the Sri Lankan government to immediately allow the displaced civilians freedom of movement: those who wish to leave the camps should be free to do so. The camps should be placed under civilian, not military, management. Aid agencies, journalists and human rights observers should be promptly provided with full, unhindered access to the camps to carry out their functions and prevent possible abuses."

Write to:
His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapaksa
Presidential Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Salutation: Your Excellency

For more information:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/sri-lanka-displaced-uncertain-future-government-unlock-camps-20090911
http://www.amnestyusa.org/all-countries/sri-lanka/page.do?id=1011241