EXCLUSIVE
Rajesh Ramachandran
NDTV Transcript
27 November, 2006
Jaffna: A humanitarian crisis in the war battered north of Sri Lanka has forced many people to take refuge in the camps of Jaffna town. The Church of St Nicholas has become the latest refugee shelter in the town.
The rich migrate, others cross the Palk Strait and reach Tamil Nadu in southern India. But the poorest who stay back are trapped in the crossfire between the Sri Lankan forces and the Tamil Tiger rebels. A couple of weeks ago government air strikes killed 45 refugees in the area.
Father Ravichandran of St Nicholas Church says, "there have been lot of displacements since 1983. Displacements are part of our experience. We get displaced, then we go and get settled we live in camps for a few months and sometimes few years. I have been in refugee camps,` said Father Ravichandran, "as a school going boy I studied in a school for the displaced".
Over the last two decades, ever since the 1983 riots, Tamils in Sri Lanka have been reduced to being refugees in their own homeland in regular intervals.
High Security Zones
When the army fortified the Palaly airbase it took over a huge area of land all round the airbase as High Security Zone. Since 1991 the Tamils there, once proud farmers who owned small landholdings have been evicted from the most fertile land in Jaffna and that's one possible reason for the severe food shortage there.
"I had land and I used to cultivate chillies, onion, tomato and other vegetables, now I am struggling," a displaced farmer said. "Nearly One lakh 20 thousand people have been in camps for the last 15 years. They were driven out because the most fertile land was taken over by the army to explad the Palaly airport," said activist Srishakthivel. "That's the reason why the cost of living has gone so high," he said.
But for the army the High Security Zone is a necessity to sustain its 40,000 troops. "The High Security Zone I understand... there is red soil. Lot of cultivation was going on there, but when it comes to country's requirement all other things have lesser priority. This is a national requirement. People have to understand that Sri Lankan armed forces have to be in Jaffna and we need a separate high security zone," said Jaffna Commander Major General MA chandrasiri said."
Every new national security demand, every fresh battle in the war for freedom throws the poor deeper into the abyss of misery without food, home or hope of a decent living.
Rajesh Ramachandran
NDTV Transcript
27 November, 2006
Jaffna: A humanitarian crisis in the war battered north of Sri Lanka has forced many people to take refuge in the camps of Jaffna town. The Church of St Nicholas has become the latest refugee shelter in the town.
The rich migrate, others cross the Palk Strait and reach Tamil Nadu in southern India. But the poorest who stay back are trapped in the crossfire between the Sri Lankan forces and the Tamil Tiger rebels. A couple of weeks ago government air strikes killed 45 refugees in the area.
Father Ravichandran of St Nicholas Church says, "there have been lot of displacements since 1983. Displacements are part of our experience. We get displaced, then we go and get settled we live in camps for a few months and sometimes few years. I have been in refugee camps,` said Father Ravichandran, "as a school going boy I studied in a school for the displaced".
Over the last two decades, ever since the 1983 riots, Tamils in Sri Lanka have been reduced to being refugees in their own homeland in regular intervals.
High Security Zones
When the army fortified the Palaly airbase it took over a huge area of land all round the airbase as High Security Zone. Since 1991 the Tamils there, once proud farmers who owned small landholdings have been evicted from the most fertile land in Jaffna and that's one possible reason for the severe food shortage there.
"I had land and I used to cultivate chillies, onion, tomato and other vegetables, now I am struggling," a displaced farmer said. "Nearly One lakh 20 thousand people have been in camps for the last 15 years. They were driven out because the most fertile land was taken over by the army to explad the Palaly airport," said activist Srishakthivel. "That's the reason why the cost of living has gone so high," he said.
But for the army the High Security Zone is a necessity to sustain its 40,000 troops. "The High Security Zone I understand... there is red soil. Lot of cultivation was going on there, but when it comes to country's requirement all other things have lesser priority. This is a national requirement. People have to understand that Sri Lankan armed forces have to be in Jaffna and we need a separate high security zone," said Jaffna Commander Major General MA chandrasiri said."
Every new national security demand, every fresh battle in the war for freedom throws the poor deeper into the abyss of misery without food, home or hope of a decent living.
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