*Calls for constructive support for Sri Lanka
*LTTE most consistent abusers of Tamils
Member of the European Parliament, Conservative and Defence Spokesman Geoffrey Van Orden said that he was encouraged by indications that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission had come up with robust conclusions that will address many international concerns.
He was also of the view that “Sri Lankans must deal with these matters in their own way and require our constructive support and encouragement in this.”
Van Orden who is the chairman of the Friends of Sri Lanka Group in the European Parliament, who was on a recent visit to Sri Lanka, said the most serious and consistent abusers, particularly of the Tamil population and Muslims have been the LTTE terrorists.
He also called on the international community for supportive engagement with Sri Lanka as it recovers from 30 years of conflict.
He said: “Wherever I went, I received a clear message – relief that the conflict is over; optimism that the country is now making economic progress; and recognition that reconciliation and political consensus are essential if a repeat of the circumstances that incubated terrorism 30 years ago are to be avoided.”
”Even the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which represents a significant element of the Tamil vote, is no longer pursuing a separatist agenda.
They stated directly to me their willingness ‘to be absorbed into the Sri Lankan mosaic’ and to ‘cooperate responsibly for a long-term solution’.
“The TNA must ensure that it conveys a similarly positive message when its spokesmen travel abroad,” he said.
Van Orden said that although, there are still those with a vested interest in prolonging discord, he felt sure that the great majority of people of Sri Lankan Tamil origin living in the UK and elsewhere would wish to help improve the lot of their former countrymen, if the agitators would leave them along.”
They should travel to Sri Lanka, see the situation for themselves, and invest in business start-ups and development projects. At the moment there is little evidence of funds raised overseas being channelled into such constructive projects, he said.
For some the glass is always half empty – I see it as more than half full. Demining, construction of housing, and reclamation of agricultural land has enabled over 290,000 persons displaced by the conflict to return to their villages in the North without fear. Sri Lanka’s GDP is growing at over eight percent a year and the accelerating. Infrastructure – including a first motorway – being dramatically improved,” Van Orden said.
To embed freedom and progress there should be a new political settlement, respectful of the concerns and interests of all the law-abiding peoples of Sri Lanka, and demilitarization of the North and East as soon as practicable, with clear timelines. Work on this is in hand, he said.
To help the process, there needs to be positive, generous and warm-hearted support from the international community for Sri Lanka – a friendly, democratic, Commonwealth country with very historic links with the UK and other European nations,” he said.
Van Orden during his visit he met President Mahinda Rajapaksa and senior Ministers, as well as MPs from a range of government and opposition political parties including the Tamil National Alliance. He met the Northern and Eastern Governors, the Bishop of Jaffna, military commanders and local people. He also visited the detention camp at Boosa and a post-tsunami village at Weligama.
Source: Daily News, December 12, 2011
