As post war Sri Lanka experiences a high level of militarization,
the northern provinces of the country continue to face serious
humanitarian and human rights problems. Three years after the end of a
protracted conflict and war that ravaged the country for quarter of a
century, the people and communities are struggling to attain a sustained
peace and reconciliation.
This warrants intensified efforts in
building peace and reconciliation among people and communities, observed
an international ecumenical solidarity team that visited the
war-devastated northern regions of Sri Lanka from 28 July to 1 August.
The solidarity visit was organized by
the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the
World Council of Churches in collaboration with the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA). The visit took place as part of the CCIA activities in response to accompanying churches in the situation of conflict.
The team visited the northern provinces including Kilinochi,
Puthukudiyiruppu and Mullaitivu where the war finally ended three years
ago.
The team met with church leaders, civil
society actors and war-affected people. Sri Lanka suffered from
decades-long ethnic conflicts and civil war between its Tamil and
Sinhalese populations before the conflict officially ended in 2009.
Since that time, all communities in the country strive to return to a
sense of normalcy.
However, challenges remain as large
populations of severely traumatized people require psychosocial support
in order to become reintegrated into the community. Several hundred war
widows and orphaned children struggle to attain the necessary day-to-day
support.
Continued militarization remains a
problem as large portions of the north are still occupied by military
forces and most areas have been declared "high security zones" under the
control of armed soldiers. This situation prevents the local people
from access to and use of their ancestral land.
The delegation learnt from social
workers and civil society organizations representatives working in the
region that land grabbing by the military and denial of access to land
for residential and community use is a pressing problem in both rural
and urban areas in the northern provinces.
Quoting local witnesses interviewed in
Mullaitivu, Dr Emily Welty, a CCIA member from the Presbyterian Church
(USA), observes, "Although there are development initiatives taking
places in many areas, the war-affected local communities feel that it is
too limited and it needs greater participation by local communities in
developing sustained peace and reconciliation rather than a
military-controlled approach in development".
Welty, a professor of Peace Studies at
the Pace University in New York, said, "any post war reconciliation can
be achieved only through active participation of affected communities in
peace and reconciliation, but the people in post war northern Sri Lanka
need to feel and experience trust and confidence as they continue to
live in a vulnerable situation".
Militarization is a threat to peace process
During a conversation with young war
widows in Killinochi, the members of the solidarity team were told that
"the concentration of large numbers of military personnel in rural and
urban areas with a ratio of one armed soldier to four civilians adds
more vulnerability to local communities, especially to women and girls
who live in unsafe shelters."
During a discussion with the members of
the executive committee of the National Christian Council in Sri Lanka,
Johnny Simanjunta, a member of the ecumenical solidarity team
representing the CCA, who is also a member of the Human Rights
Commission of Indonesia, shared his experiences from the visit.
"The rampant militarization process
taking places in the northern provinces and the presence of armed
soldiers in each and every corner even in remote villages will hamper
the process of normalization of the unity and reconciliation, as the
militarization process is threatening human security in northern Sri
Lanka," he added.
The delegation met with war-affected
people who had lost limbs to landmines as well as women who witnessed
the death of husbands during the last days of the war.
"Churches in Sri Lanka are in a unique
position to engage positively in post war reconciliation involving
members from both the Sinhalese and Tamil communities. The ongoing
commitment of Sri Lankan churches to Sri Lanka's peace and
reconciliation mission and their engagement in humanitarian relief and
reconstruction efforts, and the rehabilitation of war victims through
interfaith collaboration, are unique examples of Christian witness which
should be appreciated, recognized and supported by the international
ecumenical community," said Dr Mathews George Chunakara, director of the
CCIA.
The CCIA director added, "The CCIA will
be organizing a meeting in September with the participation of
ecumenical partners and peace and reconciliation advocates from the
ecumenical family to discuss how best to accompany the people and
churches in their journey toward reconciliation in Sri Lanka, especially
the Sri Lankan churches' witness and mission of promoting a culture of
nonviolence and sustained peace and reconciliation in post war Sri
Lanka."
The World Council of Churches
promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and
peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948,
today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and
other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110
countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The
WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran]
Church of Norway.
GENEVA, Switzerland August 3, 2012 /Standard Newswire/
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