tagged w/ displaced persons
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What's the only thing that can tarnish your Presidential campaign as the leader who brought the end of a thirty year civil war? Is it allegations of human rights abuses? No, it's being challenged by the only other person who has a better claim to that title: your top general.
That's what's happening in Sri Lanka right now as voters head to the polls tomorrow. President Mahinda Rajapaksa is facing off against General Sarath Fonseka, the former commander of the Army. The poll so far has been marred by violence:
More than 800 violent incidents and five deaths have been recorded in the run-up to the election, according to the independent Centre for Monitoring Election Violence.
What the poll seems not to have been marred by, however, is any sort of criticism of the government's conduct of the end of the war with the Tamil Tigers. Or of their so-far sketchy plans to provide resettlement to the thousands of Tamil refugees currently living in camps.
The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence is mapping reports of violence during the poll. (h/t Global Voices)
View Presidential Elections - January 2010 (Violence during campaign) in a larger map
For some background on the situation Sri Lanka finds itself in as it casts its vote for a new leader, this is Vanguard: Sri Lanka: Notes from a War on Terror:
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Riding a huge wave of popularity after defeating the insurgent Tamil Tigers this year, Sri Lanka's government has called early elections. From the BBC:
Mr Rajapaksa, who is hugely popular among the Sinhalese majority, is likely to score a clear victory.
The opposition is weak and the president is hoping for a two-thirds majority which would enable him to change the constitution, possibly making provision for more than two successive presidential terms.
He has said that he will wait until after the vote to introduce political reforms aimed, for instance, at addressing Tamil grievances.
The Tamil minority will probably not be happy waiting that long to have their greivances addressed, especially with over 200K Tamils still in refugee camps that are likely to flood with the coming monsoon season. If the government waits too long could they kick off another Tamil insurgency? It's a danger they might be running. And after a thirty year war, it's probably something they should be concerned about.
The new season of Vanguard features a report by Mariana van Zeller on Sri Lanka's fight against the Tigers: "Sri Lanka: Notes from a War on Terror". She looks at what it took for the Sinhalese majority to finally stamp out an incredibly resilient insurgency - and what counter-insurgency campaigns the world over can learn from their efforts (and what not to do).
Mariana's first report in the new season airs tomorrow night on Current at 10pm ET and again at 10pm PT. It's called The Oxycontin Express and deals with prescription drug abuse in the US. You can also catch her on Dr. Phil today talking about what she learned on that story.
Related posts:
- Sri Lanka’s refugee camps face dangerous mosoon season - Current News Blog
- Sri Lanka's Civil War - The group on Current News
- Demise of the Tamil Tigers? Perhaps, but an Appreciation - Current NewsRiding a huge wave of popularity after defeating the insurgent Tamil Tigers this year,... more
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Amazing pictures from the BBC of Menik Farm, the refugee camp in Sri Lanka currently housing over 240,000 Tamils.
Check out their slideshow over here.
You can follow news out of Sri Lanka on the Current News group: Sri Lanka's Civil War.
Recently on Sri Lanka's Civil War:
- "A View Framed by Barbed Wire" Economist on Sri Lanka - On Current News
- Sri Lanka's refugee camps face dangerous monsoons - On Current NewsAmazing pictures from the BBC of Menik Farm, the refugee camp in Sri Lanka currently... more
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As Sri Lanka's civil war came to an end earlier this year, camps in the north of the country overflowed with refugees fleeing the fighting. The camps, though they're only to be temporary, have drawn criticism from human rights groups for their conditions and for the fact that some of them will not let refugees leave. Now, after massive flooding in August, officials are rushing to get the camps ready for monsoon season:
In August, sudden storms flooded many of the vast camps, submerging toilets and contaminating water.
Thousands of makeshift homes were also damaged in the rainfall.
Now the Sri Lankan government says it is rapidly installing drainage systems in the camps ahead of the monsoon.
About 10% of refugees have been allowed to leave, and the government says it intends to resettle most of the others by the end of this year.
The camps are helped in great part by international funding - but some critics abroad are less than enthused with the Sri Lankan's government reluctance to allow refugees to return to their homes or villages. The UK has recently announced its intention to withdraw all but emergency funding for the camps, saying that about 70% of the inhabitants could leave.
The announcement came after the UK Development Minister Mike Foster visited the biggest camp at Menik Farm.
He said 70% of people should be able to leave and stay with host families.
Refugees say conditions are poor, with inadequate drinking water and drains, and illness due to the hot conditions. Many are pleading to be allowed home.
The government's treatment of the Tamil refugees is a cause of concern for international observers, particularly after the devastating end to the civil war. Will Sri Lanka come through on its promises to treat the refugees humanely and restore civil government to the formerly rebel-controlled regions?
As a part of our upcoming Vanguard season, Mariana van Zeller reports from Sri Lanka on the civil war.
Related items:
- Evidence of war crimes in Sri Lanka? - Vanguard blog
- Current Group: Sri Lanka's Civil War - Join the group, follow developments.As Sri Lanka's civil war came to an end earlier this year, camps in the north of... more
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From the News Blog: http://blogs.current.com/news/2010/01/25/sri-lanka-goes-to-the-polls/
What's the only thing that can tarnish your Presidential campaign as the leader who brought the end of a thirty year civil war? Is it allegations of human rights abuses? No, it's being challenged by the only other person who has a better claim to that title: your top general.
That's what's happening in Sri Lanka right now as voters head to the polls tomorrow. President Mahinda Rajapaksa is facing off against General Sarath Fonseka, the former commander of the Army. The poll so far has been marred by violence:
From the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/25/sri-lanka-presidential-election
"More than 800 violent incidents and five deaths have been recorded in the run-up to the election, according to the independent Centre for Monitoring Election Violence."
What the poll seems not to have been marred by, however, is any sort of criticism of the government's conduct of the end of the war with the Tamil Tigers. Or of their so-far sketchy plans to provide resettlement to the thousands of Tamil refugees currently living in camps.
The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence is mapping reports of violence during the poll: http://cmev.wordpress.com/maps/
For some background on the situation Sri Lanka finds itself in as it casts its vote for a new leader, below is Vanguard: Sri Lanka: Notes from a War on Terror:From the News Blog:... more
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About 330,000 people in central China are to be evicted from their homes to make way for a reservoir that will form part of a massive water diversion project, state media said Sunday.
More than two-thirds of the people in Hubei and Henan provinces would be relocated to about 50 nearby counties and cities, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Zhang Jiyao, head of the project, as saying.
Zhang did not say where the remaining 100,000 would be placed to make way for the Danjiangkou Reservoir, part of the multi-billion-dollar North-South Water Diversion Project. The project aims to bring water from the nation's longest river, the Yangtze, to the parched north of the country, which is plagued by droughts.
Xinhua has previously said that by 2010, when part of the project will have been completed, up to one billion cubic metres of water will be diverted to Beijing annually.
According to the project's website, the relocation of the 330,000 people is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.
end of excerpt from article.
Also see:
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE51Q02E20090227?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
There is great discontent amongst the people over this water scheme.
I am really exasperated in continuing to read about the proliferation of dams not only in Asia but also in Africa. As we have seen from every example of a dam being built in these areas, it does nothing but displace people, cause environmental devastation, and threaten agriculture thus exacerbating the very conditions already plaguing farmers in China now. I sometimes really do find myself speechless.
My previous entry on Three Gorges Dam with comment:
Three Gorges Dam-Hydropower At A Huge Human Cost
http://water-is-life.blogspot.com/2007/11/three-gorges-dam-hydropower-at-huge.html
I have to honestly state that I am sad regarding human behavior today. We see the crisis and yet we continue to shield our eyes from it thinking business as usual is going to solve it when it is really a paradigm moral shift that must occur in our consciousness that will bring us the answers. In short, we have forgotten what it is to be human (if we even know what that means) and instead only care on the whole about survival at any cost (which is really not survival) instead of survival in balance with peace and ecological consciousness.
Water is our lifeblood not a commodity to be used carelessly without regard for the consequences. I think China is learning that lesson the hard way.About 330,000 people in central China are to be evicted from their homes to make way... more
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