Sri Lanka's civil war came to an end in 2009, but many online say now problems facing the country's Tamil minority are going unnoticed. The civil war in Sri Lanka was one of the world's most brutal conflicts and lasted nearly 30 years. Both the Sinhalese-majority government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were accused of using dirty tactics. When the war ended in 2009 with the defeat of the LTTE, the Sri Lankan government pledged rehabilitation for hundreds of thousands of Tamils languishing in jails and in refugee camps. The government also promised to rebuild the war-torn north and east. But has that happened? And has the mainstream media forgotten about the Tamils of Sri Lanka? The war may be over, but do the old prejudices still endure?
We asked for feedback from our community, specifically asking for pictures, videos and comments about how Sri Lanka's Tamils are faring.
Many of the responses we received, on both Twitter and Facebook, pointed us to the Channel 4 (UK) documentary "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields", which focuses on the final weeks of the civil war in 2009. The video has been viewed over 60,000 times on YouTube and in the introduction, the presenter explains "we believe this footage represents devastating evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity. And a powerful case for bringing those guilty of these crimes to justice." The documentary features mobile phone video behind Tamil lines and in the refugee camps many Tamils found themselves in as the war came to an end.
Not all online were united in a call for more attention to the plight of the Tamils. One Twitter user, @UKLPSL responded to our call-out with over 75 tweets, many containing links to articles that highlight work the government has been doing to develop the north and the east and to assist Tamils .
In our segment we interviewed Sri Lankan bloggers Indi Samarajiva and Kumaravadivel Guruparan. The conflict between the Tamil and Sinhalese ethnicities dominated the discussion, though Samarajiva responded that, "You've framed the debate in terms of Tamils and Sinhalese, but I think it's really about Sri Lankans….The question is how do we reconcile as Sri Lankans?" Guruparan, who is Tamil, said that he thought it was impossible to separate ethnicity from the issues facing the country. "The reasons for the conflict, the fundamentals for the conflict remain exactly the same…There are specific issues that Tamils in Sri Lanka that are specific to Tamil."
Thumbnail image: A civilian refugee camp in Sri Lanka. 2009. [EPA]
These are some of the social media elements featured in this segment.
Independent video journalism site VJ Movement made this video on the tension between the Singhalese majority and the largely displaced Tamil minority in Sri Lanka.
Channel 4 (UK) produced this documentary on the Sri Lankan civil war called "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields."
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