Are we a divided people?

By Bernadeen Silva

I visited Vavuniya late in November as a member of the "Fact finding Citizens' Commission" on the border villages which are severely affected by the N.E. War. On a previous visit to Vavuniya in July 1992 I witnessed streams of people on foot and bicycle trekking into Vavuniya from the North to sell and take back goods. This visit was a sad and disturbing one.

Passes

Permanent residents get a three month pass and this has to be guaranteed by another person. Non-permanent residents get passes for a specific purpose which has to proved with documentation and here too a guarantor is needed. This is for short periods - three to seven days or so depending on the purpose of the visit. 

Those who come from the Wanni needing to go to Colombo have to come to Vavuniya, stay in a lodge and apply for a pass. There are 11 lodgings approved by the authorities and those who stay have to register with the police. Many lodging places have become places for drugs and prostitution, was the comment made by some.

How long you wait to get a pass depends on the goodwill of the person in charge. We were told it can take up to two to three days. All passes need to be guaranteed by someone and those coming from the Wanni know no one. But then, you can get a guarantor for Rs.2000/-!

Detention camps

There are incidents where family members of the one arrested have gone to the Co-ordinator, Human Rights Commission to expedite release. They say this offers some assurance of not being harassed and tortured.

Armed groups

Refugee Camps

One spokeswoman cynically commented that they were wary of visitors. 'For us you are a joke', she said. I asked why and the reply laughingly was - "You all come to talk to us, ask questions, show concern and go away and nothing happens - we go on living the same." I asked about the many NGOs around who do rehabilitation work. 'They come, give us a piece of soap, some biscuits, the other day we got a bedsheet, but our situation never changes,' she said. Children can go to school from the camp and are sent in a van. But when they return in the afternoon they have no place to do their homework and studies. 

Some suggestions that may ease the situation

No doubt we are in a war situation and Vavuniya is the main gateway to Jaffna. Naturally then movement in and out needs to be checked. But there is much to be desired and much that needs to be done to make Vavuniya a better place for the people who reside there. Though all the communities living in Vavuniya and beyond are Sri Lankans, the impression is that we are a divided people. The remark often made by the people I met when I visited Wahalkada and Kebithigollawa, border villages predominantly Sinhalese, in the Anuradhapura district, in September '98 and now echoed by those in Vauniya is 'Are we not people of this country. Why are we neglected by the people of the South and the government?"

Displaced persons

Some could be given land to cultivate as many are farmers (plenty of crown land). One example we saw was a community centre organised by an NGO, SEEDS (Social Economic Environmental Development). SEEDS has taken just 10 families given them a 1/4 acre each and helped them to build houses, cultivate, and raise livestock. The land was given by the government.

I do not suggest that they be given ownership of land, as most of them do have land of their own in the areas they lived in before. What is suggested is that while they live here, they be given land for cultivation to keep them gainfully occupied.

These displaced citizens requested training in some skills. They need frequent visits by doctors, counsellors, psychologists for many suffer from trauma, claustrophobia, fear psychosis, etc.

This work of concern and caring for these citizens is the responsibility of the state. A welfare unit should be attached to the H.R. Commission secretariat that could coordinate the work of the NGOs, and get their help to begin skills training programmes, give public relation seminars to the police and army, organise to take persons from the camp to cultivate land. 

Inside the camp some small industry like envelope making, flower making and sewing could be organised. Such type of employment (they should be paid) organised on some co-operative principles will not only help our economy but give to these Sri Lankan displaced families a purpose to live with a hope, a distant one perhaps, of returning to their homes. 

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