WikiLeaks: Sri Lanka Desire To Take Care Of Its Problems On Its Own – UNHCR To US
November 12, 2013 |
“Moreau reviewed the fairly positive experience two years ago when 200,000 people were displaced and then returned to the east. She said that the GSL had done a pretty good job in cleaning up the areas of conflict (including de-mining), putting local administration in place and getting some infrastructure and other recovery projects off the ground. This gave the GSL a good model to use, though Moreau expected that the challenges in the north would be even greater, and thus far the GSL’s approach had been less accommodating. There were also reports that mining was much more extensive and the administrative and infrastructure needs (including schools and hospitals) were much greater in the north.” the US Mission to UN informed Washington.
The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The “Confidential” cable discuses what had happened on the ground during and since the conflict. The cable was signed by the US Ambassador to Geneva Clint Williamson on July 15, 2009.
After a meeting with Pascale Moreau, UNHCR,s Acting Director for Asia, the ambassador wrote; “Finally, she noted that it is not yet clear whether the international humanitarian agencies will be asked to play any role in the return of IDPs. She stressed that the GSL wanted to maintain complete control of the process, both for security reasons, but also out of a sense of pride and desire to take care of its problems on its own.”
Finland-isation And Bhutan-isation
Charitha Ratwatte
Good fences make good neighbours – Robert Frost
Robert Frost, American poet, four times Pulitzer Prize and Congressional Gold Medal winner, in ‘Mending Wall,’ a poem published in 1914, used this line, which according to the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations originates in the 17th century. Frost could not see the need for a fence between his farm in New England and his neighbour’s land. But his taciturn neighbour insisted on a wall and only said, “Good fences make good neighbours,” in response to Frost’s query on the need!
In the context of CHOGM going on in Colombo, it is useful to contextualise this concept in international relations. In most situations, e.g. where you live or where you sit in a restaurant, it matters who your neighbours are. Poet Robert Frost’s neighbour was correct, it really matters that you have good relations with neighbours and the most important issue is demarcating limits of territory.
Current conundrum
Consider the current conundrum, regarding fisher-folk from Tamil Nadu allegedly poaching in Sri Lankan waters off the northern Sri Lankan coast. When during the conflict Sri Lankan fishermen’s access to these waters were restricted, Tamil Nadu fishers accessed these waters at will, subject only to the concerns of the Sri Lankan Navy, since some of them were considered to be smugglers, smuggling in tradable goods and offensive material into Sri Lanka.
In the meantime in South Indian coastal waters, Indian fishers using trawler bottom scraping nets which completely destroyed the bottom of the ocean, dragging up every living thing, most of which cannot be used. This converts the sea into a virtual desert. The Tamil Nadu fishers had no other economic choice, they say, other than to poach in Sri Lankan waters. Read More