SRI LANKA: SEARCHING FOR RECONCILIATION

Three years on from the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, progress has been made – but there are warnings of continued discontent amongst marginalised communities.

 
Vesak, a festival to celebrate Buddha's birthday in Gangaramaya Temple, Colomobo, Sri Lanka.
A trader at work on the 32nd floor of the World Trade Center in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In 2010, the year after the civil war ended, Sri Lanka was the best performing stock market in the world. March 2012.
Research by youth-led, grass roots organisation 'Sri Lanka Unites' suggests that 60-70% of Sri Lankan children still don't have friends outside their ethnic group. Here a muslim family visit the beach in Welligama, Sri Lanka, March 2012.
Pilgrims approach the summit of Sri Pada, or 'Adam's Peak', a mountain sacred to Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims. Central Sri Lanka, March 2012.
Navaratnam was displaced numerous times over 20 years. He was separated from his daughter for 3 years after being sent to different IDP camps. The Sri Lankan civil war has caused severe humanitarian and environmental damage. Sri Lanka, 02/03/2012.
Manchula Navaratnam, 16, sufferered multiple displacements during the war. She has been seperated from her family since she was 13. The last three years she has been living in Menik Farm IDP camp. She was reunited with her father just two weeks ago.
The Veddahs are the indigenous people of Sri Lanka. Inhabiting the island long before the Sinhalese and Tamils. They have been marginalised throughout Sri Lanka and now live in a resettlement camp north of Batticaloa. Sri Lanka, February 2012.
Originally jungle dwelling peoples, this Veddah community in Batticaloa were chased out of the forest by Indian Peacekeeping Forces, then hit by the tsunami and recruited to fight for the LTTE during the war. Sri Lanka, February 2012.
The Veddahs are the indigenous people of Sri Lanka. Inhabiting the island long before the Sinhalese and Tamils. They have been marginalised throughout Sri Lanka. They now live in a resettlement camp north of Batticaloa. Sri Lanka, February 2012.
Tamils question the continued heavy military presence in the Mullaitivu district three years after the war, with regular checkpoints between villages and many military-owned small businesses that arose post-war. Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka, March 2012.
Sinhalese tourists visit the underground bunker of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in Mullaitivu district. The northbound A9 road completion and the opening of north Sri Lanka has brought a booming domestic 'war tourism' industry. March 2012.
Sinhalese tourists from Colombo are coming in their hundreds to see memorials to their fallen soldiers and visit sites of the major battles. Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka, March 2012.
A couple take an afternoon stroll along the beach in Colombo, Sri Lanka. March 2012.
Jaffna railway station was shelled in the 1980s. Now, abandoned with its roof caved in and locals sentiments on the walls. The government plans to rebuild the northern trainline as part of development of the north and east regions. Jaffna, Feb 2012.
Tamil communities in Jaffna are predominantly Hindu but there is also a strong Christian presence. San Anthony's church, Jaffna, Sri Lanka, March 2012.
Puthukkudieirpu, a shop keeper in Jaffna. Puthukkdieirpu was fortunate in that his neighbourhood wasn't relocated during the war. This has given him a significant advantage in the post-war economy. Jaffna, Sri Lanka, February 2012.
Pilgrims at the top of Sri Pada, or Adam's Peak, wait for sunrise. Sri Pada is sacred to all faiths in Sri Lanka.
From a spot along the Colombo coast, a Muslim woman gazes out to sea. Sri Lanka's economic recovery from the war is underway, yet reconciliation and social integration efforts remain sparse and problematic. Colombo, Mar 2012.
 
 

The civil war in Sri Lanka ended in May 2009, leading the government to formally recognise itself as the first modern democracy to eradicate terrorism on its own soil. Since then there has been enormous international pressure for an investigation into the huge loss of civilian lives and the disconcerting number of ‘disappeared’ persons during the final stage of the war.

In order to deflect some of this attention, President Rajapaksa commissioned a report entitled ‘The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission’ (LLRC). The report, although controversially lacking in any steps towards accountability (Amnesty International have discredited it as being ‘fundamentally flawed at every level’), has been hailed by many pro-government supporters as a roadmap to reconciliation.

This feature looks at what has happened in the three years since the war ended. And at what hasn’t. Much of the government’s rebuilding, despite relying heavily on Chinese loans, appears positive. In 2010, the Colombo stock exchange was the best performing stock exchange in the world. However, if the government continues to pay little more than lip service to Sri Lanka’s marginalised and disaffected Tamil, Muslim and indigenous Veddah communities, it will never have a peaceful state and it will never escape the prying eyes of the UN human rights council.