Sri Lankan government voices anger as UK MPs address Tamil group

David Miliband and Gordon Brown meet delegates at London conference of Global Tamil Forum

The diplomatic rift between London and Colombo has widened after Gordon Brown and David Miliband met delegates from a new worldwide Tamil union despite "strong protests" from the Sri Lankan government.

Miliband, the foreign secretary, used his address to the inaugural conference of the Global Tamil Forum at the Commons yesterday to urge the Sri Lankan government to embark on a "genuinely inclusive political process".

He also repeated calls for an investigation into allegations that both the Sri Lankan state and the Tamil Tigers violated international humanitarian law during last year's fighting.

The British government's decision to engage with the GTF has provoked "deep concerns" in Sri Lanka, which claims the organisation is a front for the defeated Tamil Tigers (LTTE).

The British acting high commissioner in Colombo, Mark Gooding, was summoned before the island's foreign minister yesterday and urged to tell Miliband to cancel his address.

A spokesman for the Sri Lankan government said: "[Rohitha Bogollagama] … emphasised that foreign secretary Miliband, by participating at [the] GTF meeting in London, would unfortunately lend credibility to an organisation which is propagating the separatist agenda of the LTTE, and would be acting in a manner inimical to the national interest of Sri Lanka and its legitimate government."

However, not only did Miliband go ahead with the address but Brown also held a private meeting with a group of delegates in the Commons.

A Downing Street spokeswoman confirmed the meeting had taken place but declined to comment further.

A Foreign Office spokesman said Miliband's participation was part of the government's ongoing efforts to bring about peace in Sri Lanka.

"The GTF publicly states that they are committed to the principles of democracy and non-violence," he said.

"The UK will continue to engage with all Sri Lankan communities focused on achieving a lasting and equitable peace through non-violent means."

The already-strained relations between the two countries deteriorated further last November after the UK and Australia blocked Sri Lanka from hosting the next biennial commonwealth heads of government meeting in 2011 in protest at Colombo's military repression against the Tamil population.

Earlier this month the EU suspended preferential trade benefits to Sri Lanka over concerns about its human rights record.

In his address to the Commons conference, Miliband urged the newly-elected Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, to use his mandate to bring about a political settlement between the island's Sinhalese majority and its Tamil minority and take lessons from how other divided countries had healed their differences.

"If history is buried, reconciliation never happens," he said. "That is why we continue to call as a government for a process to investigate serious allegations of violation of international humanitarian law by both sides in the conflict.

"If credible and independent, such efforts could make an important contribution to reconciliation between Sri Lanka's communities."

He also praised the Tamil diaspora for renouncing the violence and "countless atrocities" committed by the Tamil Tigers, adding: "The road ahead no doubt will be long and hard … but I think the founding commitment not just to a fully inclusive political process, but to support non-violence as the means to achieve it, is something that speaks to the deepest values of the Tamil people."

The UN estimates that around 7,000 people died in the final months of the fighting that culminated in the defeat of the Tamil Tigers.

More than 250,000 Tamils were interned in government-run camps, where around 100,000 remain. A further 11,000 are being held on suspicion of rebel links.

The conference also heard from a number of MPs, including Simon Hughes, Ed Davey, Keith Vaz and Virendra Sharma.

Davey, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, also called for an investigation into allegations of human rights violations and war crimes.

He warned the government in Colombo that it would be judged by the international community on its political and judicial reforms and the way it treated the media.

"The Sri Lankan government must reach out and recognise their mistakes from the past," he said. "We believe that what we believe are war crimes should be investigated."

The shadow foreign secretary, William Hague, who closed the conference, said "meaningful political reform and reconciliation should be an urgent priority" for the Sri Lankan government, and called for the release of the internally-displaced Tamils still held in camps.

The GTF, is led by Father SJ Emmanuel, a 75-year-old Catholic priest. He said the organisation was a democratic and non-violent organisation and adhered to "the principles of emancipation promoted by Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King".

It is dedicated to winning Tamil self-determination and finding and bringing to justice those responsible for "the genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity" that had been perpetrated against the Tamils.

A spokesman for the GTF said Colombo's reaction to its meetings with the British government was typical of the Sri Lankan state's attitude.

"It obviously shows that they are not serious about finding a peaceful solution," he added.

Kilde: guardian.co.uk

Innvandrere er flinkest i klassen. Hva er det med Tamilene?

De er den innvandrergruppen i Norge hvor flest eier sin egen bolig. Fiskefabrikkeiere på Vestlandet får stjerner i øynene når de snakker om deres arbeidskapasitet og punktlighet. De har høy utdannelse, få arbeidsledige og er mindre kriminelle enn gjennomsnittet av nordmenn. Hva er det egentlig med tamilene? Kanskje de har fokus på annet enn trygd?

Og de har søndagsskoler hvor de lærer barna tamilsk og selvsagt noe annet. Matte og naturfag, noe som vil være et must på det kommende globale arbeidsmarkedet. Norske mammaer og pappaer sover ut lørdagsrusen, men norske barn enten sover eller sløver foran idiotboxen. Man blir sliten av å spille dataspill og se horrormovies til klokka 0400.

Du finner ingen tamilske ungdomsgjenger på gata i Sarp. Ikke i Oslo heller ….

Tamilene er de som får mest offentlig støtte av innvandrerorganisasjoner i Oslo. Pengene går til drift, leksehjelp, tamilsk skole, undervisning i matte, naturfag og tamilsk kultur.

I Oslo er det 500 innvandrerorganisasjoner (54 somaliske, 46 pakistanske, 14 tyrkiske, 13 tamilske) som de siste årene har mottatt hundrevis av millioner i støtte.

Tamilene er den eneste gruppe som gjør en investering i det flerkulturelt samfunnet ??

Kilde: debatt.sa.no

Vårt fokus er tamiler

Tamilene er blant dem som har fått mest offentlig støtte til innvandrerorganisa-sjoner i Oslo. Pengene går til drift, leksehjelp, tamilsk skole og tamilsk kultur.

Unge svetter over lekser. Andre øver indisk sang og musikk. Tamilsk Ressurs- og veiledningssenter (TRVS) er møtested for små og store tamiler på Rommen i Oslo. De boltrer seg på 1600 kvadratmeter med 18 rom over to etasjer.

Oppslag på dører og tavler er på tamilsk.

–Vårt fokus er tamiler i Norge. Vår visjon er å være den fremtredende organisasjonen som arbeider for å samle tamiler i Norge med deres kulturelle identitet og veilede dem til å bli ressurssterke og godt integrert i Norge, sier Rajah Balasingam, daglig leder for TRVS.

Balasingam og Juwachim Reginold, begge sentrale ledere i det tamilske miljøet, mener at TRVS og det tamilske kultursenteret Annai Poopathi som holder til i de samme lokalene, har æren for tamilenes suksesshistorie i Norge. TRVS har fått flere priser, og skrytebrev fra Jens Stoltenberg henger på veggen i gullramme. Hver søndag får barn fra 3 til 18 år undervisning i tamilsk. De største barna tilbys undervisning i matematikk og naturfag, dessuten leksehjelp. De frivillige lærerne er tamiler som er født, oppvokst og høyt utdannet her.

Tilsammen har TRVS og Annai Poopathi fått rundt seks millioner kroner de siste ti årene til sine ulike formål. Alt er ikke integreringsmidler, en del kommer fra andre tilskuddsordninger. Balasingam mener offentlig støtte er viktig fordi det er en investering for samfunnet.

–Det finnes ikke tamilske gjenger i Oslos gater. Vi forebygger psykiske helseproblemer, våre ungdommer tar høyere utdannelse og vi har høy arbeidsdeltagelse. Vi motiverer foreldre til å gå på foreldremøter og delta i dugnader.

Kilde: Aftenposten

Sri Lanka protests Britain over Tamil summit

The Sri Lanka government on Wednesday protested the British government over a forum of Tamil community to be held in Britain.

"I summoned Britain's Acting High Commissioner (in Colombo) to note our protest," Rohitha Bogollagama, the Sri Lankan foreign minister told reporters.

The Sri Lankan government was angered by British Foreign Secretary David Miliband's decision to address the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) to be held in London on Wednesday.

Bogollagama said the GTF was a front organization for the militarily eliminated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"Engagements of this nature whatever the intentions are tend to manifest the perception of support being extended to an organization in pursuing a separate state," Bogollagama said, adding that despite the military defeat the rebels were still active through various front organizations across the world.

Sri Lankans were incensed by a joint visit by Miliband and his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner to Sri Lanka in April last year during the final stages of the military battle with the LTTE.

Sri Lanka accused Miliband then of trying to throw a lifeline to the rebels.

Some 200,000 Tamils are living in Britain and often pressurize the British government to influence the Sri Lankans over Tamil rights issues.

பிரிட்டன் நாடாளுமன்ற கட்டிடத்தில் இன்று நடைபெற்ற உலகத் தமிழர் பேரவை என்னும் அமைப்பின் கூட்டத்தில் பிரிட்டிஷ் வெளியுறவு அமைச்சர் டேவிட் மிலிபாண்ட் அவர்கள் கலந்து கொண்டதை இலங்கை அரசாங்கம் கண்டித்துள்ளது.

தமிழர்களின் சுயநிர்ணய உரிமையை முன்வைத்து செயற்பட்டு வருகின்ற இந்த உலகத் தமிழர் பேரவை என்னும் அமைப்பை, விடுதலைப்புலிகள் அமைப்பின் ஆதரவு அமைப்பாக குற்றஞ்சாட்டியுள்ள இலங்கை அரசாங்கம் அதில் பிரிட்டனின் வெளியுறவு அமைச்சர் கலந்துகொள்வது இலங்கையின் இறைமையை குறைத்து மதிப்பிடும் செயலாக அமையும் என்று கவலை வெளியிட்டுள்ளது.

இது தொடர்பாக இலங்கைக்கான பதில் பிரிட்டிஷ் தூதுவர் மார்க் கூடிங் அவர்களை அழைத்த இலங்கை வெளியுறவு அமைச்சர் ரோஹித போகொல்லாகம அவர்கள், தமது அதிருப்தியை வெளியிட்டுள்ளார்.

பெரும்பாலும் மேற்கு நாடுகளில் இயங்கும் விடுதலைப்புலிகளின் ஆதரவு அமைப்புக்களை ஒரு குடையின் கீழ் இணைத்து செயற்படும் அமைப்பாக உலக தமிழர் பேரவையை விபரித்துள்ள இலங்கை வெளியுறவு அமைச்சின் அறிக்கை ஒன்று, நாடுகடந்த தமிழீழ அரசாங்கத்தை உருவாக்குவதற்கான முதற்கட்ட பணிகளில் அந்த அமைப்பு செயற்படுவதாகவும் குற்றஞ்சாட்டியுள்ளது.

இது இலங்கையின் இறைமைக்கும், ஆட்புல ஒருமைப்பாட்டுக்கும் நேரடியாக அச்சுறுத்தல் விடுக்கும் ஒரு நகர்வு என்றும் இலங்கை அரசாங்கம் கூறியுள்ளது.

ஆகவே இலங்கையில் மக்களால் தெரிவு செய்யப்பட்ட அரசாங்கம் அங்கு அமைதியையும், நல்லிணக்கத்தையும் ஏற்படுத்துவத்ற்கு மேற்கொள்ளும் முயற்சிகளுக்கு ஆதரவளிப்பதற்கு பிரிட்டிஷ் வெளியுறவு அமைச்சர் டேவிட் மிலிபாண்ட் அவர்களுக்கு உண்மையிலேயே ஆர்வம் இருக்குமானால், உலக தமிழர் பேரவையின் கூட்டத்தில் அவர் கலந்துகொள்ளக் கூடாது என்று இலங்கை வெளியுறவு அமைச்சர் கூறியுள்ளார்.

ஆனால், இன்று காலையில் பிரிட்டிஷ் நாடாளுமன்ற கட்டடத்தில் நடந்த அந்தக் கூட்டத்தின் ஆரம்ப வைபவத்தில் டேவிட் மிலிபாண்ட் அவர்கள் கலந்து கொண்டு உரையாற்றியுள்ளார்.

அரசியல் தீர்வு

அங்கு உரையாற்றிய அவர், இலங்கை பிரச்சினைக்கு ஒரு அமைதியான, அரசியல் தீர்வுதான் ஒரே வழி என்று மீண்டும் வலியுறுத்தியுள்ளார்.

அந்த தீர்வு எப்படியானதாக இருக்க வேண்டும் என்பதை அனைத்து இலங்கை மக்கள்தான் முடிவு செய்ய வேண்டும் என்றும் அவர் கூறியுள்ளார்.

உண்மையான தேசிய நல்லிணக்கத்தின் மூலம் ஒரு இறுதியான தீர்வை இலங்கை அடைய வேண்டும் என்பதே பிரிட்டனின் அவா என்றும் அவர் அங்கு குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளார்.

இந்த இலக்குக்காக செயற்படுகின்ற இலங்கையின் அனைத்து மக்களுடனும்- அவர்கள் இலங்கையிலோ அல்லது வெளிநாட்டிலோ எங்கு இருந்தாலும் அவர்களுடன் சேர்ந்து பிரிட்டன் சேர்ந்து செயற்படும் என்றும் மிலிபாண்ட் அவர்கள் உலகத் தமிழர் பேரவையின் கூட்டத்தில் பேசியுள்ளார்.

அத்துடன் இலங்கையின் இறுதிக்கட்டப் போரின் போது இருதரப்பாலும் மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டதாக குற்றஞ்சாட்டப்படுகின்ற போர்க் குற்றங்கள் தொடர்பில் சுயாதீன விசாரணை ஒன்று நடத்தப்ப்பட வேண்டும் என்றும் தனது உரையில் வலியுறுத்தியுள்ளார்.

அத்துடன் இன்னமும் இடம்பெயர்ந்தோர் முகாம்களில் எஞ்சியுள்ள மக்கள் மீள் குடியேற்றப்படுவதுடன், கைது செய்யப்பட்டு தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டிருக்கும் விடுதலைப்புலிகள் அமைப்பின் உறுப்பினர்கள் விடுததலை செய்யப்பட்டு, மறுவாழ்வளிக்கப்பட வேண்டும் என்றும் டேவிட் மிலிபாண்ட் கூறியுள்ளார்.

Kilde: colombopage.com

Miliband risks Sri Lanka’s wrath to support Global Tamil Forum

Relations between Britain and Sri Lanka are likely to hit a new low after David Miliband addresses a meeting of Tamil activists from around the world at the Houses of Parliament today.

The Foreign Secretary is due to make the opening speech at the inaugural meeting of the Global Tamil Forum, which campaigns for selfdetermination for Sri Lanka’s ethnic Tamils and to bring to justice perpetrators of alleged war crimes during the island’s 26-year civil war.

William Hague, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, is to make the closing address to the meeting, which will be attended by several other MPs in an unprecedented display of cross-party support for Sri Lanka’s Tamils after the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels last year.

“It’s great support for us,” S. J. Emmanuel, the president of the forum, told The Times. “The British Government, more than any in the world, knows our history and are most competent to understand our situation.”

He said that the group advocated non-violence and an international boycott of Sri Lankan goods and wanted war crimes charges brought against Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Defence Secretary, and Sarath Fonseka, the former army chief.

Sri Lanka’s Government is sure to be incensed as it regards many of the forum’s members, especially the British Tamils Forum, as fronts for the Tigers, who are banned as a terrorist organisation in the EU. Sri Lankan officials have long accused Britain of secretly supporting the Tigers.

The Foreign Office defended Mr Miliband’s decision to address the meeting. A spokesman said: “The UK firmly believes that the only way to achieve lasting and equitable peace in Sri Lanka is through genuine national reconciliation. The UK will engage with all members of the Sri Lankan community who share this goal, whether overseas or in Sri Lanka.”

The Tigers launched their armed struggle to create an independent homeland for Tamils in northeast Sri Lanka in 1983 to try to protect them from discrimination at the hands of the ethnic Sinhalese majority.

Kilde: timesonline.co.uk

Anti-Sonia Sri Lankan Tamils party formed

Some former members of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) headed by N Srikantha, have formed a new anti-Sonia Gandhi Tamil party called Tamil National Liberation Alliance (TNLA) to contest the April 8 Sri Lankan parliamentary elections. Srikantha and the defeated Presidential candidate, K Sivajilingam, told the media here on Monday, that they left the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) because the party had become a puppet of the Indian National Congress led by Sonia Gandhi.

The TNA, they charged, had deliberately failed to bring about a ceasefire in the final stages of the war against the LTTE. They had willfully ignored the help offered by the Tamil Nadu government and the Indian opposition parties to stop the war. The TNLA proposes to fight the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka in alliance with the ultra left and anti-India Left Liberation Front led by Dr Wickramabahu Karunaratne, yet another defeated Presidential candidate.

TNLA leader Sivajilingam had contested for the Sri Lankan Presidency in January on a virulently anti-India and anti- Rajapaksa platform. He did not make any pro-LTTE statements, but his stand was the same as that of the LTTE. Being a relative of LTTE Supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sivajilingam took charge of the body of Prabhakaran’s father, Thiruvengadam Velupillai at an army camp in Panagoda near Colombo and conducted the funeral at his hometown of Valvettithurai.

New Tamil alliance in Sri Lanka says TNA betrayed Tamils
Former Jaffna parliamentarian and independent presidential candidate M.K. Sivajilingam says the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) acted according to the wishes of the terrorist group LTTE and did not genuinely represent the aspirations of the Tamil people.

At a press conference held in Colombo on Monday to announce the creation of a breakaway faction of the TNA named Tamil National Liberation Alliance (TNLA) to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections, its co-founder, Sivajilingam accused the TNA of betraying the Tamils.

Sivajilingam and another TNA MP from Jaffna N. Sri Kantha declared yesterday that they have formed the new alliance to contest the general election in all districts in the Northern and Eastern Provinces under the Leftist Liberation Front of Dr. Wickramabahu Karunaratna.

The TNLA has been created in order to fulfill the objectives of the Tamil People, he said.

Dr. Wickramabahu Karunaratna described their alliance with the Tamil National Liberation Alliance as an instance of a union of the North and the South.

Sivajilingam said the TNA was controlled by three powerful former MPs R. Sampanthan, Suresh Premachandran and M. Senadirajah who acted according to LTTE wishes.

He accused the group including Sampanthan of deceiving other party members by lending support to General Sarath Fonseka at the presidential elections.

Sivajilingam said the TNA leadership is solely responsible for the death of thousands of Tamils brutally tortured and executed by the LTTE.

The TNA, which had 22 seats in the dissolved parliament, recently denied nominations to 9 of its members to contest the polls under the alliance. The TNA had also left out Sri Kantha and Sivajilingam from its nomination list.

The other members who were denied nominations include Jaffna district member Pathmini Sithamparanathan, are S. Kajendran, S.Jeyanandamurthy, Sivanathan Kishor, T. Kanagasabai and S. Sathasivam.

Kilde: colombopage.com

Lanka tells US not to dictate

The government claims that US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian affairs Robert Blake has no right whatsoever to dictate terms to Sri Lanka on its judicial process adopted on the allegations against General Sarath Fonseka adding that Sri Lanka is capable of handling the issue according to the law of the land.

Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardana addressing the weekly government news briefing at the his office today said that it is up to the Sri Lanka authorities to decide whether General Fonseka should be tried in a civil court or in a Military Court.

Minister Abeywardana made these comments in response to a statement made by US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian affairs Robert Blake to the effect that General Fonseka should be tried in a civil court.