02/12/2011 - In the final months of 2009, Tamil families found themselves separated from each other in the heat of battle. Two years later, Sri Lanka’s missing children are still struggling to find their families. |
During the final Months of conflict in 2009, while the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) rebel group experienced the final showdown in the contested north of the small island nation, frightened civilians escaped the embattled north in an attempt to find safety in government territory.
On May 19th, when Sri Lanka declared victory over the LTTE, these families began the long and hard road to recover their past lives and reunite with their loved ones. Some had fled their homes with little more than photographs of their children who had been left behind or recruited by the rebels.
On May 19th, when Sri Lanka declared victory over the LTTE, these families began the long and hard road to recover their past lives and reunite with their loved ones. Some had fled their homes with little more than photographs of their children who had been left behind or recruited by the rebels.
In the final months of battle, the depleted Tamil Tigers were conscripting children in a desperate effort to build up their forces as the government conducted its final offensive. What happened to these child soldiers remains a mystery for hundreds of families.
The Sri Lankan authorities struggled for months after the fighting had ended to find and match separated family members. This proved an almost impossible task, as hospitals brimmed over with the wounded, camps overflowed with the displaced and the battlefield was littered with bodies.
Another issue facing family reunification was the difficulty of finding official records as many families had fled without their official documentation, some without record of the official spelling of their children’s names. This has caused problems as the Sinhalese-speaking government officials try to keep records of unfamiliar Tamil names, some even writing them down phonetically.
Despite these complications, many are still clinging to hope that reunification will happen, eventually. Around 2,000 children were reunified with the families in the early period after the fighting stopped.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is helping the government set up a Family Tracing Unit (FTU) in order to help in the process of finding Sri Lanka’s missing children. As of September 2011, it had received 690 applications from families. The long and hard process is reflected in the fact that only 29 children so far have been reunited with these families.
FTU workers have to comb through piles of records every day from the police, hospitals and orphanage logs, as well as logbooks from camps for the displaced. However, lacking official documents from families even when a child is traced, it takes months to verify identities, to find birth certificates and other documents and to secure court approval to hand the child back to its family.
Issues such as child trafficking and abuse remain as serious considerations to make sure that a child is reunited with their real family.
The Sri Lankan authorities struggled for months after the fighting had ended to find and match separated family members. This proved an almost impossible task, as hospitals brimmed over with the wounded, camps overflowed with the displaced and the battlefield was littered with bodies.
Another issue facing family reunification was the difficulty of finding official records as many families had fled without their official documentation, some without record of the official spelling of their children’s names. This has caused problems as the Sinhalese-speaking government officials try to keep records of unfamiliar Tamil names, some even writing them down phonetically.
Despite these complications, many are still clinging to hope that reunification will happen, eventually. Around 2,000 children were reunified with the families in the early period after the fighting stopped.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is helping the government set up a Family Tracing Unit (FTU) in order to help in the process of finding Sri Lanka’s missing children. As of September 2011, it had received 690 applications from families. The long and hard process is reflected in the fact that only 29 children so far have been reunited with these families.
FTU workers have to comb through piles of records every day from the police, hospitals and orphanage logs, as well as logbooks from camps for the displaced. However, lacking official documents from families even when a child is traced, it takes months to verify identities, to find birth certificates and other documents and to secure court approval to hand the child back to its family.
Issues such as child trafficking and abuse remain as serious considerations to make sure that a child is reunited with their real family.
