Sri Lanka - Articles

A four-member LTTE team is currently touring Europe with two main objectives:

1. To lobby for direct aid distribution to the areas under their direct control; and
2. To take up the stalled peace process.

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has also appealed to the European countries to prevail on the visiting LTTE delegation to accept a joint mechanism for tsunami aid distribution and return to the negotiating table to resume the peace process. Given these appeals and counter appeals by both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government the importance of Europe to the Sri Lankan ethnic issue is evident.

No region, apart from Europe, has influenced Sri Lanka significantly over the last four centuries. Three European countries (Portugal, Netherlands and Britain) were Sri Lanka's colonists in succession. Another European country (France) serves as a model for Sri Lanka's present system of (mixed Presidential and Parliamentary) government. Norway is the facilitator of the peace process between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. Europe also has the largest concentration of Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora; and LTTE's international secretariat is situated in London. European influence is conspicuous in the fields of education, economy, administration, law and jurisprudence, culture and the political system of the Island; Europe remains one of the largest trading partners of Sri Lanka.

Given these multiple linkages, European countries are playing a major role in the ethnic issue. They have traditionally been sympathetic to the demands of the minority Tamils. Europe wants to address the root causes of the ethnic crisis. A sympathy wave after the 1983 ethnic riots in Colombo, the consequent refugee exodus all over the world, and the Tamil diaspora lobby are the factors that have sustained this traditional outlook of Europe till the mid-1990s. The activities of militant groups like fundraising, lobbying and networking were tolerated. Even immigration rules were relaxed, apart from providing refugee status to Sri Lankan Tamils.

But, this sympathy waned when the Tamil militant groups started exploiting the space provided to them in Europe. The patience of European countries ran out when the LTTE began to indulge in assassinations of heads of states and governments in Sri Lanka and moderates within its own community, besides indiscriminate destruction of life and property through suicide bombings. Intense lobbying by the Sri Lankan foreign ministry also worked. Severe restrictions were placed on fundraising and movements of the militants and their supporters. Britain banned the LTTE, and the EU identified it as a group violating its Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict.

This does not mean that the European countries have washed their hands off the ethnic issue. Secession is not acceptable to them and they emphasize on the commonalities between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities rather than their differences, believing that a new generation of Sri Lankans would grow up without any prejudices. Europe would like to play a role here. Realizing that lack of a consensus is a major stumbling block for a solution, Liam Fox of Britain had worked out a bipartisan agreement between the two main political parties (PA and UNP) in 1998. But that failed to work. Norway was an acceptable facilitator and offered its services to reach a settlement. The EU has been providing humanitarian assistance through the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO) to vulnerable groups in the conflict-affected areas and to internally displaced persons.

But, Europe has to undertake an overall economic development of the conflict affected areas that would also address, at least partly, the root causes of the conflict. The lack of a united European agenda on the ethnic issue is, however, of concern. For instance, while some Scandinavian countries view the LTTE with sympathy, others like Britain and France do not. Given Europe's clout in Sri Lanka, a common plan of action would work. The EU could play a prominent role since Europe can prevail on all the parties concerned in the conflict. Even the JVP, which has become a third dimension of the ethnic issue, is not an exception. Its leader Somavansa Amarasinghe was in exile for over 12 years in Europe, and he would also listen to the Europeans.

Europe could proceed in three stages if it is serious about settling the ethnic issue. First, it should bring together all the Sinhalese parties. Second, it should do the same by uniting the Tamil community. Third, after negotiating how much each party could compromise, Europe could work out a solution, which both parties could agree to as the final settlement. A difficult task, indeed, but not impossible.