Greece bailout talks break down again

Eurozone finance ministers meeting ends without agreement after fourth diplomatic failure in eight days

Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem says differences remain on a number of issues, as Greece talks break down on Thursday

Jennifer Rankin and Ian Traynor in Brussels-Thursday 25 June 2015 

Talks on the Greek debt crisis between eurozone finance ministers have ground to a halt after Athens rejected counter-proposals from its creditors.

Eurozone finance ministers came to Brussels for an emergency meeting but failed to bridge their differences with Greece, in the fourth diplomatic failure in eight days. The EU commissioner for economic and financial affairs, Pierre Moscovici, said Greece and its creditors were still at loggerheads over reforms to Greek pensions and VAT rates, which lenders want to be toughened as a quid pro quo for giving Athens further bailout funds.

Greece’s creditors - the European Commission, International Monetary Fund andEuropean Central Bank - are demanding further spending cuts in Athens before agreeing to release the €7.2bn in funds that the country needs in order to meet a €1.6bn payment due to the IMF next Tuesday. The finance ministers are expected to reconvene on Saturday for further talks as the crisis goes to the wire.

The Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, said both sides would continue to seek an agreement, as they attempt to square the differences between a Greek plan submitted on Monday and a counter-proposal from the lenders. He said: “We shall continue our deliberations, the institutions are going to look again at the two documents - our documents and their own, there will be discussions with the Greek government, and we’ll continue until we find a solution.”

Meanwhile, the IMF told reporters in Washington that it would not move its 30 June deadline for the €1.6bn payment. “As a matter of longstanding policy, the Fund does not extend payment deadlines,” said a spokesman for the IMF.

Wrangling over the Greek debt crisis is overshadowing a summit of all 28 EU leaders, where politicians are discussing migration and David Cameron’s proposals for renegotiating Britain’s relationship with the EU.

But hopes of a breakthrough were fading even before the ministers sat round the table. Arriving at the meeting, Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, said Greece had moved backwards, a message that was echoed by the German chancellor Angela Merkel. The chair of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said ministers would be waiting to hear ideas from the Greeks.

Ahead of the meeting on Thursday morning, the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, spent more than three hours in a meeting with the leaders of the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European commission, but left without an agreement.

Despite the stalemate, Tsipras said he was confident of reaching a compromise that would allow Greece to overcome the crisis: “European history is full of disagreements, negotiations, and then compromises.”

Rumours were swirling that Greece’s creditors were going to present Athens with an ultimatum to accept their austerity plan in exchange for releasing €7.2bn (£5.1bn) in bailout funds.

But one EU diplomat said there was no take-it-or-leave-it deal and institutions remained available for further discussion.

The two sides still appear to be far apart, however. Greece’s creditors want the Tsipras government to make deeper spending cuts, as well as faster and more sweeping reforms to the Greek pension system, according to a leaked versionof the creditors’ counter-proposals that is very similar to an earlier version rejected by the Greeks on Wednesday.

Greece’s lenders are pressing Athens to accept more austerity in exchange for continuing the bailout programme worth €240bn (£171bn). Tsipras, who has been seeking to wrest back control over the Greek economy, has accused the lenders of not wanting a deal and serving “special interests” in Greece.

As the talks stagger on, a senior Syriza official accused the creditors of trying to blackmail Greece. “The lenders’ demand to bring annihilating measures back to the table shows that the blackmail against Greece is reaching a climax,” Nikos Filis, the Syriza’s parliamentary spokesman, told Greek broadcaster Mega TV.

Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, told investors to expect more conflicting reports, both positive and negative about the Greek crisis. “We have no idea how this will end,” he added.

Time is running out fast, with Greece’s eurozone bailout set to expire on Tuesday, alongside the IMF payment.

The Tuesday deadline is doubly pressing because the ECB, which is keeping the Greek banking system on life support, has indicated it will not support banks if the bailout programme expires without a new agreement in place. Without ECB support, Greek banks are expected to buckle, which would force the Tsipras government to impose capital controls and threaten an exit from the eurozone.

The ECB, which is holding daily meetings on Greece, has pumped about €89bn into the Greek financial system to keep banks afloat. On Thursday it decided to maintain emergency liquidity funding at current levels, suggesting that the pace of withdrawals from Greek banks may have ebbed.

Even if a deal is finally struck in Brussels, Tsipras has to get the compromise through a rebellious and recalcitrant parliament. Germany’s parliament and those of other eurozone countries also have to ratify the package before it can be implemented, raising questions as to whether all this can be accomplished before the Tuesday deadline.

Many observers fear that any deal emerging from Brussels may only be a temporary stopgap that does little to ease the massive debt burden weighing on the Greek economy.

“Without a substantial form of debt relief, which looks unlikely in an initial agreement, Greece’s debt ratio will remain unsustainably high and the crisis will continue,” said Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics.

Body cam video catches Barstow cops slamming black pregnant woman to ground, letting white woman go free

Charlena Michelle Cooks was accused of resisting arrest for not showing an ID (YouTube/screen grab)

DAVID EDWARDS-27 MAY 2015

Officials with the city of Barstow, California insisted this week that officers had acted properly when they used force to arrest a pregnant woman who refused to show them her identification, even though the charges were later dismissed.

Body Cam Video Catches Barstow Cops Slamming Black Pregnant Woman to Ground, Letting White Woman Go Free by Thavam Ratna

Justice Scalia wins for most snarky line in Supreme Court’s Obamacare case

Associate Justice Antonin Scalia  (Jewel Sawad / Getty Images)

By Wonkblog Staff June 25

The Supreme Court upheld 6-3 the Affordable Care Act's insurance subsidies this morning, delivering a huge win for President Obama and health care advocates. But, from the lines that have been circulating so far from the decision, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, on page 21 of the dissent, may have already won for snarkiness.

Scalia is remarking, of course, on the fact that the Supreme Court has now repeatedly upheld "Obamacare" from major challenges. The first time came in 2012, during the presidential election, when the Court upheld the constitutionality of the law. In this case, Scalia argues that the court rewrote the law to turn a "penalty" for not holding insurance into a "tax." Also in this case, he argues, the Court ignored the ACA's language witholding federal funding for Medicaid, the health program for people in or near poverty, if a state refuses to expand its Medicaid program. Instead, the Court found that the federal government could withhold only the additional funding granted for a Medicaid expansion.

Needless to say, many legal analysts -- and the Court itself -- differed with Scalia on these points.

Here's the full excerpt from the final page-and-a-half of Scalia's dissent.

Today’s opinion changes the usual rules of statutory interpretation for the sake of the Affordable Care Act. That, alas, is not a novelty. In National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, 567 U. S. ___, this Court revised major components of the statute in order to save them from unconstitutionality. The Act that Congress passed provides that every individual “shall” maintain insurance or else pay a “penalty.” 26 U. S. C. §5000A. This Court, however, saw that the Commerce Clause does not authorize a federal mandate to buy health insurance. So it rewrote the mandate-cum-penalty as a tax. 567 U. S., at ___–___ (principal opinion) (slip op., at 15–45). The Act that Congress passed also requires every State to accept an expansion of its Medicaid program, or else risk losing all Medicaid funding. 42 U. S. C. §1396c. This Court, however, saw that the Spending Clause does not authorize this coercive condition. So it rewrote the law to withhold only the incremental funds associated with the Medicaid expansion. 567 U. S., at ___–___ (principal opinion) (slip op., at 45–58). Having transformed two major parts of the law, the Court today has turned its attention to a third. The Act that Congress passed makes tax credits available only on an “Exchange established by the State.” This Court, however, concludes that this limitation would prevent the rest of the Act from working as well as hoped. So it rewrites the law to make tax credits available everywhere. We should start calling this law SCOTUScare.

Perhaps the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will attain the enduring status of the Social Security Act or the Taft-Hartley Act; perhaps not. But this Court’s two decisions on the Act will surely be remembered through the years. The somersaults of statutory interpretation they have performed (“penalty” means tax, “further [Medicaid] payments to the State” means only incremental Medicaid payments to the State, “established by the State” means not established by the State) will be cited by litigants endlessly, to the confusion of honest jurisprudence. And the cases will publish forever the discouraging truth that the Supreme Court of the United States favors some laws over others, and is prepared to do whatever it takes to uphold and assist its favorites. I dissent.

Disability protesters blocked from Commons chamber

WEDNESDAY 24 JUNE 2015
Police stop disability rights protesters from entering the Commons chamber during prime minister's questions in a noisy demonstration against the end of the independent living fund.

Thirty police officers lined up outside the entrance to the chamber, in parliament's central lobby, to stop the protesters, including around 10 in wheelchairs, from going any further, with one woman led away by officers as she tried to enter the chamber.

The protesters, from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), are campaigning against the end of theindependent living fund.

Demonstrator Mary Johnson, from Doncaster in South Yorkshire, said: "We tried to get down there because the government needs to listen. We tried to get into the chamber, but we were stopped by police."

(Video: Kate Belgrave)

'Dragged away by police'

She said she witnessed one protester being "dragged away by police" claiming officers' behaviour was "disgusting" and that they had been "pushing wheelchairs around".

Paula Peters, from Dpac, said the protesters were "desperate" and accused police of a "heavy handed" response.

She said: "Over 30 people, disabled activists, independent living fund users and Dpac members, have gone in, they made a rush for the House of Commons doors. Police threw themselves on them to stop them from doing that."

"A lot of these guys have very severe impairments, wheelchairs with their equipment, who are facing down police officers."

'Refusing to listen'

Ms Peters said that the protesters "feel they have got no other choice but to take this kind of action" because "this government is refusing to listen to what disabled people have to say on this issue".

She added: "The only option we have left before the fund closes is to take this form of action, this peaceful, non-violent direct action.

"They have got nothing else left to lose, they have lost it all already. They are desperate, they are frightened for their future, they feel they have got no future and they are prepared to take this action to show to the world that they are not going to run from the government, from a fight. They are prepared to fight for their rights with everything they have."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said that one person and their carer were ejected from parliament for disorderly behaviour, but no arrests were made.

Public access to central lobby was restricted for 30 minutes while officers dealt with the situation, according to the Met. The spokesman added that security was not compromised and business in the Commons was able to carry on as usual.

'Scaremongering'

The independent living fund provides financial support to severely disabled people to help them live independently by, for example, employing carers. It is coming to an end on 30 June, with responsibility for supporting disabled people passing to councils.

Critics are worried that disabled people will be left with less money, but the Department for Work and Pensions said they were "scaremongering" and that local authorities and devolved administrations "will be fully funded to ensure disabled people get the targeted support they need to live independent lives".

WHO unit finds 2,4-D herbicide 'possibly' causes cancer in humans

© AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File This July 11, 2013, file photo shows Blake Beckett of West Central Cooperative as he sprays a soybean field, in Granger, Iowa.

By Carey Gillam

A widely used farm chemical that is a key ingredient in a new herbicide developed by Dow AgroSciences "possibly" causes cancer in humans, a World Health Organization research unit has determined.

The classification of the weed killer, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, known as 2,4-D, was made by the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

The IARC said it reviewed the latest scientific literature and decided to classify 2,4-D as "possibly carcinogenic to humans." That is a step below the more definitive "probably carcinogenic" category but two steps above the "probably not carcinogenic" category.

IARC's findings on 2,4-D have been awaited by environmental and consumer groups that are lobbying U.S. regulators to tightly restrict its use, as well as by farm groups and others that defend 2,4-D as an important agent in food production that does not need more restrictions.

Since its introduction in 1945, 2,4-D has been widely used to control weeds in agriculture, forestry, and urban and residential settings.

In March, IARC said it had found another popular herbicide -glyphosate - was "probably carcinogenic to humans." Glyphosate, the world's most widely used weed killer, is the key ingredient in Monsanto Co's Roundup herbicide and other products.

IARC classifications do not carry regulatory requirements but can influence regulators, lawmakers and the public. Following the glyphosate classification, some companies and government officials moved to limit glyphosate use.

Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical Co, has had a particular interest in IARC's review. The company is using both glyphosate and 2,4-D in a herbicide it calls Enlist Duo that received U.S. approval last year. Enlist Duo is designed to be used with genetically engineered, herbicide-tolerant crops developed by Dow.

Dow said in a statement that IARC's classification was flawed and was "inconsistent with government findings in nearly 100 countries" that have affirmed the safety of 2,4-D when used as labeled.

IARC said it decided on the "possibly carcinogenic" classification because there was "inadequate evidence in humans and limited evidence in experimental animals" of ties between 2,4-D and cancer. It said that epidemiological studies provided "strong evidence that 2,4-D induces oxidative stress ... and moderate evidence that 2,4-D causes immunosuppression."

However, IARC said, "epidemiological studies did not find strong or consistent increases in risk of NHL (non-Hodgkin lymphoma) or other cancers in relation to 2,4-D exposure."

Dana Loomis, a deputy section head for IARC, said the most important studies reviewed showed mixed results, and a "sizable minority" judged the evidence as stronger than others did.

Among the research presented to IARC was an analysis funded by a Dow-backed task force that found no ties between 2,4-D and many cancers.

Some critics of 2,4-D had expected IARC to classify 2,4-D as "probably" cancer-causing. But the classification it did receive still underscores the dangers of 2,4-D and the need for a "much more rigorous regulatory process," the Pesticide Action Network North America said in a statement.

(Reporting by Carey Gillam; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Leslie Adler)

Our Grandmothers Know Best – Traditional Remedy For Asthma, Bronchitis, Cough & Lung Diseases

Posted by HealthyFood on November 13, 2014

Due to environmental pollution and degrading air quality, more people are being diagnosed with some kind of lung disease or disorder, asthma, allergies, various types of coughs and bronchitis. 

There is a popular traditional remedy that can help alleviate almost any problem with your lungs, especially asthma, both bronchial and cardiac.

Our grandmothers knew of a natural remedy that was very effective to treat lung associated health conditions, and many who have tested the remedy have confirmed that our grannies were right about its great healing power.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Pure Maple Syrup
• 1lb or ½ kg red/purple onions
• 6 cups or 1.5 L water
• 2 medium sized lemons
• 7 Tbsp of raw honey

Preparation:

Place the pure maple syrup and preheat it on a medium heat. Then, add the previously sliced onions, cook for a few minutes, and add the water.

On medium heat boil the mixture until the water is reduced by more than a third. Let it cool down for a while. In the meantime squeeze the lemons, and keep the juice aside. Add the honey and lemon juice to the mixture, and stir well. Let it sit overnight, and in the morning squeeze out the liquid and keep it in a glass bottle.

How to consume it:

Consume a tablespoon before each meal. You can repeat the treatment until your lungs get better. Children should consume a teaspoon of the remedy before each meal.

New twists emerge in Eknaligoda’s case

Details on 22 mobile phones, which were used to contact missing journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda, have been disclosed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the police Spokesperson said.

June 24, 2015 
Spokesperson ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said that the CID will attempt to trace the persons who used these mobile phones. “Using the IMEI numbers, the police will also try to locate the persons who imported these devices. A court order has already been issued to the Sri Lanka Customs to produce a report in this regard,” he said.   

He also went into say that the court has also directed the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) to issue a report in connection with the phone calls made to Eknaligoda with these mobile phones.  

“The CID will take further measures after considering these two pending reports,” Gunasekara added

‘Hunger games,’ closed doors and what next?

Dr. Vickramabahu Karunarathne-Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Fascistic gangs of Mahinda claimed that LTTE is active in the North and in many occasions LTTE flags were being hoisted in that area. However, immediately this was countered by the police and security forces and the latent regime of Mahinda did not challenge it.

Any one visiting North East could see that army is not operating in the streets and there is civil governance with police implementing law and order. Army is confined to the camps and part of land occupied is given back to the owners. Still large part of agricultural land is within the high security zone; but ways and means of reducing that is considered by the relevant authorities.

The UNP General Secretary and Cabinet Minister, Kabir Hashim has said that the new government has not withdrawn a single Army camp. But the fact remain that civil authorities in the north- east have taken over the duties of governance while armed forces are confined to the barracks. Also it is clear under normalcy it is necessary to cut down the strength of armed forces, and give back the land so far occupied while keeping any land for expansion.

No one has opposed the presence of the security forces in all areas. It must be clear to every body that security forces will be present in all districts of the country even though under normal conditions they will be confined to the barracks.

In fact it has to be reminded that Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Vigneswaran demanded that armed forces should be removed from the streets and check points while leaving implementation of law and order to the police.

Perfectly correct

It is perfectly correct if the government is to take action, under conditions permitting, to further reduce the Army presence in the North, to release more LTTE detainees and to do much more that would facilitate reconciliation, given the fact that more than six years have passed since the end of the war. All suspected LTTE detainees, even those charged under the penal code should be considered to be political prisoners and should be released under a general amnesty. Mahinda regime too had released more than 11,000 suspected LTTE cadres who were accused of various crimes, by 2011. It proved to be an action in the right direction. Also, all that 59 Army camps mentioned had been withdrawn from the North by Mahinda regime.Mahinda regime some times relaxed military control and released political prisoners for opportunistic reasons. Addressing the Defense Seminar 2012 in Colombo, the political Defense Secretary of Mahinda regime stated “In five stages between October 2010 and November 2011, much of the area covered under the High Security Zone near the Palali Cantonment was released.” He added that in 2009, there had been approximately 2000 checkpoints, sentry points and barricades in the North and the East, but there were none in 2012. “28 battalions that were in the North have been relocated in the South and the East. The overall number of troops in the North has been reduced by more than 21,000 since 2009. In addition Mahinda regime had withdrawn the security forces’ facilities even on political grounds. Hence it is clear that the present campaign of the latent Mahinda regime is to create a separatist bogey for conspiratorial purpose. It expects the fear created would lead to furtherance of animosity between communities creating calamities such as the 1983 riots and the recent unfortunate incidents in Aluthgama.

Legitimacy

Disputing this accusation the former President claimed that he has at his disposal many weapons against the present government other than this Tamil bogey. The legitimacy of the present government, the breach of promises and the morality of rule by a minority government exceeding its so-called mandate, are some of them. However none of these is powerful enough to shake the mass mandate given to the regime of Maithree and and Ranil. All attempts so far to bring impeachments and no confidence motions against the ruling regime have collapsed leaving only the crude mechanism of resorting to racism and anti minority sectarianism.

Mahinda had claimed that “to the rude shock of the patriots the Elam flag was now being hoisted, 59 army camps had been withdrawn from the North, some groups in the government were insisting on the release of dreaded terrorists and the so-called peace activists such as Erik Solheim who wanted to see the country in flames were openly working on a separatist agenda.” Further more Mahinda while on his temple rounds has been claiming that terrorism is raising its ugly head again and the country is fast moving towards division and separation. But the fact is, the country faced the danger of division exactly because of chauvinism and racist terror against minority communities.

Radical masses

Though he claimed to be a Buddhist he has thoroughly rejected the path of Meththa, Karuna, Muditha and Upeksha given by Buddha. On the contrary he has worked on the basis of Raga, Devesha and Moha and brought misery to the people of Lanka. His fascistic organization claimed he will be the Prime Minister candidate of the SLFP for the coming elections. This sent a shock wave among the radical masses that participated in the January 8th uprising. In particular trade unions, people’s councils and social groups condemned this betrayal. However table has turned against Mahinda.

President Maithripala Sirisena has flatly rejected to grant any concession to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the forthcoming election campaign, Cabinet spokesman and Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said recently.

Minister Senaratne told the weekly Cabinet news briefing that President Sirisena categorically told the six-member committee appointed to mend fences among the two factions that Mr. Rajapaksa did not qualify to be nominated as the Prime Ministerial candidate nor in the national list, or get nominations from the SLFP to contest the poll.

The people have clearly rejected the policies and the style of the governance of the previous regime and therefore, attempts to bring back rejected politicians and policies back to power was an insult to the people who elected Maithripala Sirisena as the President and the government formed under his leadership. “The people must decide at the forthcoming election whether they would continue to support the good governance under President Sirisena or restore the pillaging and plundering Rajapaksa regime.

They also must decide whether they approve to punish the rogues who looted public money or let them free and open the gates once again for corruption, lawlessness and thuggery” Minister Senaratne stressed.

That sounds the door of the SLFP is closed for the fascistic group of Mahinda. We should be watchful for the next step of this menace. 

- See more at: http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=features/hunger-closed-doors-and-what-next#sthash.6lPY5VQx.dpuf

SL military seizes more lands at Tha'l'laadi, Mannaar

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 June 2015, 23:08 GMT]
While the civil officials in Mannaar are struggling to locate lands to settle Eezham Tamil refugees, who are scheduled to be sent back from India with the facilitation by UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the SL Ministry of Resettlement, the occupying SL military in Mannaar has put up noticeboards claiming ownership to more than 50 acres of public lands along the A32 highway between Tha'l'laadi and Thirukkeatheesvaram. The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has recently seized these lands near the notorious Tha'l'laadi military base, civil sources in Mannaar told TamilNet on Monday. The SL military is scheming a military cantonment to facilitate long-term Sinhalicisation of the Mannaar mainland, the sources further said. 

The location of Tha'l'laadi SLAF camp, military airstrip [Satellite Image courtesy: Google Earth]

The rear supply base of the SL military at Tha'l'laadi was the artillery position during the genocidal onslaught on Vanni in 2008 and 2009, when the SL military waged a two-pronged offensive towards Vanni ending the massive onslaught at Mu'l'livaaykkaal in Mullaiththeevu in May 2009. 

Just before the onslaught, the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) hurriedly put up a one-kilometer long runway along the A32 highway, starting 2 km away from Tha'l'laadi junction and 1 km close to Thirukkeatheesvaram junction, on the right hand side of the highway from Mannaar to Jaffna. 

SLAF has recently put up noticeboards seizing the public lands on both the sides of the A32 highway. 

The noticeboard claiming the seizure of lands put up by the SLAF along the A32 Highway at Tha'l'laadi in Mannaar. Note the typos in Tamil text.

The move aims to restrict civilian access to the demarcated area surrounding the base on the left side of the A32 highway and the right side of the highway where a military runway is located. 

Colombo's Forest Department and Wildlife Conservation Department have been almost competing with each other in seizing the lands in the area by putting up noticeboards. Lands belonging to resettling Tamils have also been seized through the extended seizure of lands in the name of Vangkaalai sanctuary in the district, absorbing the entire village of Chi'ru-naavat-ku'lam, situated south of the military base at Tha'l'laadi. 

Resettled Tamils at Naakathaazhvu village complain that the SL military scheming a Sinhala Military Zone surrounding the Tha'l'laadi base. 

A mass grave was located in December 2013 at Maanthai near the historic temple of Thirukkeatheesvaram. The Sinhala military had used the site as a killing field, according to the displaced Eezham Tamils. 

The Sinhala military maintained area in Tha'l'laadi and in Thirukkeathesvaram as a High Security Zone since Eezham Tamils were uprooted from the area in 1990. 

All the three forces of the occupying military have occupied residential and fertile lands in Mannaar. 

A large number of uprooted Eezham Tamils left for India. The returning Eezham Tamil refugees need more lands as there are several hundred new families among them, the civil officials trying to locate lands for the resettling Tamils said. 

A32, also known as Mannaar - Jaffna Road, is a 118 km long highway that connects Tha'l'laadi junction located on Mannaar - Mathavaachchi Road (A14) with Naavat-kuzhi junction located on Jaffna - Kandy Road (A9). A32 highway runs through Poonakari in Vanni mainland and Keara-theevu in the Jaffna peninsula.

In Defence of Diaspora and Sri Lanka's Invisible Victims

Frances Harrison

-23/06/2015

There's typically a sense that once people have fled their country they no longer deserve a full stake in its future. Perhaps the assumption is exiles have assimilated elsewhere, their children no longer speak the language or understand the nuances of the culture. Sometimes there's a degree of envy - members of a diaspora are considered financially better off abroad. There's the unspoken feeling that they abandoned their country - 'they didn't stay and suffer like the rest of us". Somehow it's assumed they've lost the right to a voice.

Then there's diaspora politics. It's easy to make fun of - governments in exile, tiny unelected parties that fragment endlessly, and a strong dose of nostalgia that pervades everything. Diasporas are typically courted for their technical expertise and investment; their political views only welcome when they conveniently reinforce or fund interest groups inside the country.

It's nonsense of course to talk about a diaspora as a coherent entity. It's made up of every shade of political view, different generations, different levels of education and class, and most of all very different experiences of suffering and exile.

The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora numbers some million people worldwide. Some settled abroad decades ago; others fled only in recent months. In the current period of transition in the country there's much talk of victims' rights, though arguably little to realise them yet. The unthinking assumption is that the "victims" are those Tamils eking out a living in the former war zone, searching for loved ones, as well of course as the Sinhalese and Muslims who suffered. It's the victims inside the country whose fate is considered the litmus test for any future reconciliation effort.

But what about those who've fled abroad, those who've been driven out after experiencing unspeakable crimes. I call them the invisibles. They're anonymous faces in petrol stations or supermarkets in their new countries. Nobody knows their stories or worries about reconciling with them or offering them reparations. They pass unseen.

They're the ones who've been hung upside down and beaten on the soles of their feet so for the rest of their lives when they tread the pavements of London or Zurich the pain will remind them of their torturer. They will never undress without being conscious of the cigarette burn marks emblazoned on their private parts - some will never wear clothes that show their legs or backs now hideously deformed by burn scars from branding with hot metal rods. Many hide their suffering because of the shame of repeated sexual abuse and the gnawing fear that their families back home could be targeted. Toenails grow back, pieces of shrapnel can be removed in surgery, teeth can be repaired but the mental trauma and physical pain will never completely go away. Torture is for life.

The idea that these people have a cushy life abroad is obscene. Many are detained by immigration authorities on arrival in Europe or Australia and re-traumatised. Faced with deportation they try to kill themselves. They're put on suicide watch, which means a guard will walk into their room throughout the night to check on them. Several have described waking and thinking they're back in Sri Lanka in the torture cell. Even when free, they must wait years in limbo to secure a decision on their asylum. People who've been to hell and back, sleep on the floors of other people's apartments, work as house-maids, look after other's people's children while longing for their own. In short they have to hang on for dear life just to survive - sanctuary isn't instant or guaranteed. And that's in Europe. In India or South East Asia it's infinitely worse. At any moment they can be rounded up by the authorities and sent back to Sri Lanka. They exist in the shadows, unable to access even medical help for horrifying injuries. Here being invisible is a matter of survival.

Nobody knows how many Sri Lankan Tamil war survivors have fled the island since the end of the fighting in 2009 for Europe, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and India. Why do they currently have no voice in the future of their country? Cynics might say it suits the government and the international community to marginalise these people because many - though not all -were members of the Tamil Tigers - a group proscribed under terrorism legislation around the world. But surely these victims are just as bit entitled to a stake in their island's future as the citizens who stayed put in the country. Survivors of the last phase of the civil war repeatedly say they their bodies are in England or Switzerland but their minds in Sri Lanka. They constantly scour the Internet for news of who is alive and who is dead, still haunted by recent events. These are not people who've settled by choice abroad. They should not be rendered invisible.

The current rush by human rights and development agencies to secure a presence inside Sri Lanka presupposes all the victims are physically there. The special rapporteur on transitional justice visited Sri Lanka earlier this year and called for any future accountability process to have the participation and trust of the victims. Even he forgot hundreds of recent survivors of the very worst abuses who are now abroad against their will.

Follow Frances Harrison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/francesharris0n