Lest we should forget the Vanni inhabitants are not aliens but citizens of Sri Lanka and the fundamental rights in the Constitution applicable to all the citizens of the country are applicable to them as well. In addition the UN Guiding Principles on Displacement specifically sets out the rights of IDP’s and the obligations of Governments. The London Declaration of international law principles on IDPs extends to this category the rights applicable to refugees, on the basis that they are de facto refugees. International Humanitarian law i. e. the Laws of War also covers the situation of persons affected during armed conflicts and the protections to which they are entitled. Hence on this basis they would inter alia be entitled to move freely to any part of the country or to return to their original places of habitation if they so wish. They would also be entitled to compensation for loss of property and livelihood, just as for example the Mahavilaru farmers of the Eastern Province who were accorded compensation for loss of their crops due to the stoppage of water in the course of the war in the Eastern Province.

Relocation

However, in the light of the security concerns adduced by the Government and keeping in mind that a time frame has been given for their release from these camps and relocation to their villages and homes, I will not be considering the legal implications but discuss how best this period of incarceration may be used to foster reconciliation and reintegration rather than feelings of bitterness and alienation.

It must be kept in mind that the majority of these people are farmers, fisher folk and small businessmen such as shopkeepers. Some of them are government servants, teachers and medical officers. Members of some of these families could have joined the insurgents and some especially in the recent past were forcibly conscripted. During the insurgency in the South many families particularly in the Southern province faced the same situation. After the insurgency was crushed and an amnesty granted, the families were not collectively punished, peace was restored and the process of reconciliation took place.

Of course, we have to keep in mind the differences between the two insurgencies. In the case of the war in the Vanni region of the Northern Province, the scale of the conflict, the weaponry used, the numbers engaged and the scale of the devastation were unprecedented in our country. However, this apart the point I wish to make is that the treatment meted out to the IDPs in the camps will determine whether the process of reconciliation and reintegration takes place.

These Tamil inhabitants of the Northern province have owned farms, homesteads, fishing boats and small businesses and should be treated with respect, not as beggars or destitute but as equal citizens of the country and their dignity and self respect maintained while in the camps. To this end, I would like to make the following suggestions:

Firstly, the conditions in the camps will have to be improved. Prisoners who are receiving the hospitality of the government in different jails in the country are provided with three square meals, sufficient drinking water and bathing and toilet facilities. They are also provided with prison clothing and facilities for washing their clothes. The cells in the jails though not luxurious have sufficient space to enable them to stand upright when they so wish.

The prisoners in the jails also receive adequate medical attention and care. The IDPs are not legally prisoners and are being held for the screening/registration processes to be completed. They are entitled to be treated according to the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. If this is not possible they should at least be treated on par with the prisoners who are being ostensibly punished for their crimes after trial in the courts of law. It has been argued that in camps containing such large numbers of people it is not possible to provide these basic facilities, particularly at short notice. However, having put them in such camps the duty to provide adequate facilities is incumbent on the authorities concerned.

Alternatives could also be found such as breaking up the numbers and housing them in a number of smaller camps. Certain categories who are themselves at risk i.e. Senior citizens, pregnant women and nursing mothers as well as minor children without parents or guardians, could be allowed to relocate and stay with host families i.e. relatives or friends who may be willing to keep them. In Pakistan in the ongoing military campaign in the Swat valley it is estimated that the displaced could be approaching three millions, but a good number have found refuge with host families while only about 250,000 according to news reports as of date, are in IDP camps. In India, the approximately 85,000 Sri Lankan refugees are housed in 117 camps spread out in different districts of Tamil Nadu.

Special attention

Another matter which requires special consideration is the treatment of the displaced women in the camps. They are more vulnerable and more disadvantaged because not only do they share the same problems as the other IDP’s but have also gender related issues. The UN Guiding Principles on Internal displacement provide that special attention should be paid to the health needs of displaced women including access to female health care services and appropriate counseling for victims of sexual and other abuse.

The authorities must address these problems and try to provide health care and counseling. This is an important issue as many of the women suffer from the trauma of the terrible events which they have had to see and undergo. In the matter of sexual abuse within the camps there must be female police personnel to whom complaints can be made and the women IDPs must be encouraged to come forward with their problems to help centres, or designated authorities. Another matter that requires consideration is that privacy should also be provided for women in the use of bathing and toilet facilities. These areas should be screened off and if it is felt necessary for guards to stand around, the security should be provided by female guards.

Furthermore, where women have to be screened for security purposes a civilian presence, i.e. other women should be present preferably those who speak the same language. This could help allay the fears and anxieties of the women IDPs facing interrogation. In this context it may be mentioned that in Tamil Nadu a number of Police stations manned entirely by police women have been set up so that women could make complaints often relating to violence against women within the family and other sexual offences, without feeling intimidated. The presence of members of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission to monitor such proceedings would be desirable in the case of screenings of both men and women. Where as a result of the screening it is thought necessary to detain individuals, authorities should ensure that this is done in keeping with the Presidential Directives including the provision of receipts to the next of kin.

A further suggestion I would like to make is that the IDPs should also be encouraged to organize themselves into committees which would help in the administration of the camps and in looking after some of their own needs the way it is being done in the camps in India for Sri Lankan refugees. Hence camp committees, mothers’ fronts and women’s groups, students’ forums etc should be introduced. Counselors while working with the people to overcome the mental suffering and trauma could also train others in the same work. The UN Guiding Principles provide that special efforts should be made to ensure the full participation of women in the planning and distribution of basic supplies because in the distribution of food the IDP women are often excluded.

Women’s committees in the camps could assist in the distribution of the food and also assess the nutritional needs of pregnant women and nursing mothers and the requirements of the little children so that additional nutritional meals and milk food are distributed among this category. Teachers among the IDPs can be encouraged to help students resume their studies. Other skills can also be taught which will be useful when the people go back to their homes and have to start the process of reconstructing their lives from scratch.

Participation by the refugees in such committees rather than being passive spectators in the administration of the camps will help them win back their self respect and confidence and adopt democratic norms when they return home.

Finally, the Government should actively encourage groups from the South and all parts of the country to visit the camps and interact with the displace people. It must be kept in mind that these village folk of the Vanni have for many years been segregated from the rest of the country and now find themselves once again segregated behind barbed wire fences.

Representatives of farmers associations, fisherman’s associations, trade unions, business men, religious leaders, mothers’ fronts etc from the South should meet and interact with the IDPs. It will be an enlightening experience for both parties as they will mutually perceive that the people they have looked at as the "enemy" are for the most part kindly peace loving people. Furthermore the people in the camps who have thus far been meeting only armed military personnel, or officials can now meet the people of the country not as guards or camp authorities, but as fellow farmers fisher folk etc. Mothers who have lost sons and daughters in the conflict will meet mothers in the South who have similarly lost their children, some of them maimed for life, and will realise that they are not alone in their predicament and have many things in common.

Forging bonds

Now is the time to forge bonds among different communities in the country based on religious and cultural links. The Nallur Kandasamy temple, one of the most famous temples in Jaffna, was built by a Sinhalese King of the Kotte Kingdom, Bhuvanekabahu VI, while the famed temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy as it presently stands (there were earlier structures too) was built by the Tamil Nayakker King of Kandy Kirti Sri Rajasinghe. In an island off the Northern Jaffna Peninsular is the famous Nagadeepa shrine which according to legend was visited by the Buddha, while in Dondra stood the thousand pillared Vishnu temple (destroyed by the Portuguese) which is described in the Sandesaya poem of the Sinhalese poet Alagiavanna. From Dondra to Point Pedro the customs, food habits, and festivals of the people are largely the same. Strangely, while the four Dravidian states of South India do not share a common New Year festival, the Sinhalese and the Tamils in Sri Lanka share a common New Year festival.

The Muslims of Sri Lanka are the greatest votaries of the Tamil language. The sacred Koran has been translated into Tamil and the Muslims of the Northern and Eastern provinces are among the most erudite and fluent speakers of the Tamil language. The shrine of the Virgin Mary in the jungles of the Vanni, venerated by the people of the Vanni as the Madhu Matha is no less venerated by the Sinhalese Christians of the South. In the South eastern most point of Sri Lanka stands the Kataragama (Kathirgamam) shrine, sacred to both the Tamils and the Sinhalese alike who worship the God Murugan / Skanda. These are but a few examples and they remind me of an article I read recently by the Ven Walpola Piyananda (Chief Sangha Nayaka of America) where referring to the different communities in Sri Lanka he writes, "We are all connected at deeper levels than we ever suspect …"

Conclusion

In conclusion I would like to say that when truth and justice prevail and all the people of the Island including the IDPs are treated with human dignity and all communities share in the governance of the country, then the guardians deities of Sri Lanka, Vishnu, Saman, Skanda and Ganadeviyo (Ganapathi) whom the people of the Vanni pray, will shower their blessings on this island nation, bringing about reconciliation, peace and prosperity.

* Nirmala Chandrahasan. LL.B, LL.M, Ph.D, Attorney- at-Law. Formerly of the faculty of Law,University of Colombo, member of the Committee of Experts on legal and Constitutional affairs, appointed by the President to advise the APRC, in 2006.She is also the daughter of former Nallur MP Dr.EMV Naganathan and daughter in law of former Kankesanthurai MP SJV Chelvanayagam QC