Wednesday, Jul 20, 2011US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday voiced concern over the plight of Internally Displaced Persons in Sri Lanka and said United States was looking at some innovative and creative ideas to break the impasse over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.
Hillary, who called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at the secretariat in Chennai, told her that US was looking at enabling Sri Lankan Tamils in camps get back to their own homes.
Jayalalithaa said though the war between the Sri Lankan army and LTTE in the island nation was over two years ago, Sri Lankan Tamils in Jaffna area are unable to go back to where they used to live.
While discussing the issue of Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa told Hillary they have been provided all facilities that were available to local citizens.
Both of them discussed various social, political and economic issues of common interest.
The US Secretary of State also congratulated Jayalalithaa on her electoral victory in the April 13 assembly polls.
During the meeting, Jayalalithaa recalled the strong bilateral trade relations between India and United States. Inviting more US investment in the Automobile sector in Tamil Nadu, she said Tamil Nadu enjoyed pre-eminence in automotive and auto components.
Jayalalithaa also expressed concern over reduction in issue of H1B visas even though in terms of number of Visas issued, the Chennai US Consulate was the second largest in the world.
Hillary invited Jayalalithaa to visit US which would enable Americans to know about the achievements of Tamil Nadu.
The meeting lasted for an hour.
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Sri Lanka’s white vans deliver fear and oppression
Sri Lanka’s reputation as an Indian Ocean paradise may hold true for determined holiday-makers, but for the sober-minded this image has been shattered in recent months.
By International Justice Desk in Sri LankaFirst a damning UN report accused both sides in the country’s 30-year civil war of atrocities – a claim the current government refutes categorically. Then in June Britain’s Channel 4 broadcast a devastating account of the closing weeks of the conflict in 2009 – at this time, the programme said, the Sri Lankan military systematically murdered thousands of civilians. Colombo says the evidence is ‘fabricated’. Distinguishing truth from artifice is problematic in a country where the free press claims it is under constant threat. RNW sent a team to Sri Lanka to investigate.
Reporters with borders
In a new report the International Crisis Group says Sri Lankan “President Rajapaksa and his powerful brothers continue to repress the media and political opponents”. Other rights groups describe killings and disappearances of reporters alongside police impunity.
And they claim a widespread lack of press freedom – that the media does not tell it how it is, and that people are afraid to speak to reporters. Pressure is brought to bear on them with the use of armed men in white mini-vans, who kidnap or murder journalists. RNW’s team experienced the phenomenon first hand after a surprise roadside attack. More >
