War ends, battle for peace in Sri Lanka begins
May 2009 may be remembered as the month when the 25-plus year civil war in Sri Lanka came to an end.
News reports indicated that, while there was dancing in the streets in capitol Colombo, there remained a humanitarian crisis in the northeast. Just north of the Grace Care Center orphanage and elder home in Trincomalee, the final battles between government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam left tens of thousands of civilians in desperate need of medical and humanitarian assistance.
VeAhavta volunteer Bonnie Nuzum was in Trincomalee when the government declared victory, and said the news was treated with caution.
“It’s somber,” Bonnie said. “There’s been so much killing.”
The end of the war has been anticipated for months. In January 2009, government troops took control of Killinochchi, said to be the primary base of the LTTE. A determined effort continued, in spite of growing international calls for a cease-fire to allow civilians safe passage from the battle zones. By April, the United Nations cited a “human avalanche” of people trying to leave the north as the Sri Lankan military closed in around the final LTTE stronghold near Mullaivaikal, about 30 miles north of Trincomalee.
It is unknown how many civilians were killed in the final weeks of battle. The weekend of May 10 included what the New York Times called a “bloodbath,” in which more than 300 civilians – among them 100 children – were killed. Two more days of intense artillery attacks left hundreds of civilians dead, including patients at a makeshift hospital. International leaders, including President Barack Obama, demanded an immediate cease fire to allow safe passage for the civilians.
On May 18, the government formally declared a victory; that proclamation was confirmed two days later with a surrender by the LTTE, and the body of Tiger head Vellupilai Prabhakaran was reportedly discovered among the casualties.
The news was certainly cause for celebration; a generation of Sri Lankans (including every child at Grace Care Center) has never known peace.
“Trust will be hard to have,” said Bonnie Nuzum. As it has often been in the past, the Trincomalee area is again populated with camps housing displaced civilians seeking a fresh start for their families.
VeAhavta will continue to work with local non-profit, humanitarian and government agencies in hopes of peace. Please consider making a donation to VeAhavta so that our efforts can help save lives where it’s needed most. Thank you, and peace.
