WikiLeaks:Basil Discloses Plan To Decongest Manik Farm
By Colombo Telegraph –September 24, 2012
Basil Rajapaksa
“Senior Advisor to the President Basil Rajapaksa told Charge and A/DCM that the GSL planned to move forward with significant IDP resettlement before the monsoon season begins in October. When pressed, Rajapaksa said as many as 100,000 would be released, including students, religious leaders, the elderly, and others. It remained unclear, however, how the GSL would deal with the looming catastrophe of the those remaining in the camps. In response to Charge’s recent letter to the GSL noting that four de-mining partners receiving U.S. funding were not working to capacity, Rajapaksa claimed they had not finished the tasks assigned.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.
A Leaked “CONFIDENTIAL” US diplomatic cable, dated August 24, 20o9, recounts the details of a meeting the US officials in Colombo has had with Senior Advisor to the President Basil Rajapaksa. The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database which is written by Charge D’Affaires James R. Moore.
Under the subheading “The Blame Game” Moore wrote “On August 21, Charge and A/DCM met with Senior Presidential Advisor, Member of Parliament, and President’s brother Basil Rajapaksa to discuss Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) plans to deal with the potentially disastrous situation in the IDP camps at Manik Farm when monsoon rains arrive in early October. His initial response was to blame the UN for not installing the proper tents or toilets and claimed the UN had not reimbursed the GSL for its work in land clearing and road construction in Manik Farm. Mentioning A/S Blake’s interview that same day with CNN, he stated that the GSL had not received one cent from the international community for IDPs, only in-kind materials and it was not fair to blame the GSL for the situation in the camps.”
Placing a comment he wrote “Once again Rajapaksa seemed eager to convey the impression that the GSL was on top of the situation and now had in its hands the registration and other data needed for a resettlement plan. It remains clear, however, that the GSL is holding its plans very close to its chest and is not engaging the UN or international donors in its plans. In addition, by tightly controlling the tasks released to the demining organizations while continuing to state that demining is key, brings into question what the GSL’s real plans are and what the true rationale is for not releasing the IDPs. Post’s assessment is that it is possible up to 100,000 IDPs will be released before the end of September but highly unlikely that the GSL will allow freedom of movement for those remaining. While the GSL and the UN will strive to improve the conditions for those remaining in Manik Farm, it is not clear that a humanitarian catastrophe will be averted by those actions”.
