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Riot victim Tamils say it’s like waiting for Godot
From Neville de Silva in London
More than 20 years after the anti-Tamil riots of 1983 and 10 months after the presidential secretariat called on those who suffered loss to apply for compensation, some are still waiting for even an acknowledgement of their claims. Almost a year ago the secretary to President Chandrika Kumaratunga made a public announcement asking Tamils who were victims of the riots and could not make compensation claims to the Presidential Truth Commission of (sic) Ethnic Violence (1981-1984) to apply to the Ministry of Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation.

That public notice under the name of W.J.S. Karunaratne, secretary to the president, asked victims who are residing or domiciled abroad to apply directly to the ministry or through Sri Lanka’s diplomatic missions. Several Tamil victims responded to that call which seemed to them at the time to have been made in good faith.

To date some of them have had no response whatsoever to their applications. A case in point is the compensation claim made by Sellappah Thevarajah of Southgate, London. In a letter to the Sri Lanka High Commission in January, Mr Thevarajah wrote: “Following my conversation with your officers and the advice I received, I wish to be compensated for the losses I have incurred in Sri Lanka.” He said that his three children and he went to Sri Lanka after he had shipped a lorry containing goods to Colombo.

After the lorry was cleared and brought to their residence at Rosmead Place, Customs officers came on the Friday before the riots to examine the goods. Since they could not complete their inspection they sealed the lorry and promised to return on Monday.When the riots erupted on Monday, his residence was attacked and the lorry set ablaze.

He and his children sought refuge in the Cinnamon Gardens Police Station and were later sent to the camp opened at Thurstan College. Unable to continue to live there he and his family returned to London.

Having returned home he wrote to President J.R. Jayewardene informing him of the suffering they underwent and of the heavy losses. Mr Thevarajah says he never received a reply. His claim for compensation was accompanied by supporting documents, as required by the public notification, from the Customs Department and the Cinnamon Gardens Police.

The Sri Lanka High Commission in London, in a letter dated 21 January 2005, wrote to the Director General/Consular Affairs of the Foreign Ministry requesting him to forward the compensation claim and the relevant documents to the ministry concerned.The High Commission also wrote a letter to the Secretary, Ministry of Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction saying that he was forwarding the application from Mr Thevarajah.

These letters and the application were sent to Colombo by diplomatic bag before the January 31 deadline set by the secretary to the president.
For nine months now Mr Thevarajah has been waiting, hoping at least for an acknowledgement. He is not even sure whether the Foreign Ministry forwarded his papers or not.

“The foreign ministry would have submitted the documents. The fault must lie with the Relief Ministry. These are typical bureaucrats,” said a Sri Lankan lawyer who said he has had past experience dealing with officials in Colombo. “Just try getting a copy of a birth certificate or dual citizenship.”

“Thevarajah’s frustration and the official indifference epitomise the experience of other Tamil victims of the 1983 riots,” said one Tamil source who is aware of similar cases. Some of them are now wondering whether this December 2004 notification by the secretary to the president was some kind of gimmick or a political sop.

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