Sri Lanka Country Summary
Conflict History
Following centuries of changing demographics and colonial domination, ethnic tensions in Sri Lanka were politically exacerbated in 1956 when Sinhalese Prime Minister SWRD Badaranaike declared Sinhala as the official state language. This controversial move came amidst standing policies providing the Sinhalese majority with better access to education and irrigated land than the minority Tamils (the second largest ethnic group). Over the next two decades the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) generated a Marxist rebellion, fronted politically by the Tamil United Liberation Front. In 1983, the LTTE initiated the Eelam Wars, with the aim of creating an autonomous Tamil state in the majority Tamil region of Northern Sri Lanka.
International Role
In 1987, domestic pressures by the Tamil Nadu state in southern India and a pact signed between the Indian and Sri Lankan governments persuaded India to deploy the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). Initially, both the LTTE and the government of Sri Lanka welcomed the IPKF, seeing it as a neutral party that would assist in resolving the conflict. However, when violence broke out between the IPKF and the LTTE, India quickly lost its credibility as an impartial force. In 1989, after Ranasinghe Premadasa had been elected President, the IPKF was asked to leave Sri Lanka. The civil war continued through the 1990s, broken intermittently by temporary ceasefires.
Since in 1998, the United Nations has focused attention on the conflict in Sri Lanka as part of its monitoring and reporting mechanism for the Special Representative to the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict. The Special Representative’s initial mission garnered commitments from both the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka to put an end to child soldier use and recruitment, respect civilian freedom of movement and cease attacks on schools.
In February 2002, the government of Norway brokered a Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) between the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka. While there were a small number of attacks during the ceasefire, peace talks occurred regularly until April 2003. At the beginning of 2006, the Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE leadership requested facilitation by Norway for talks to commence in February. At the ensuing meeting in Geneva, the two sides focused on how to obtain commitment guarantees to the 2002 CFA. This round was widely viewed as successful and paved the way for a continuation of the peace talks.
However, the fragile ceasefire quickly unraveled as the LTTE break-away faction lead by former LTTE soldier, Colonel Karuna, began to wage attacks on the traditional LTTE. A new wave of violence ensued, and the country has seen an increase in suicide attacks and bombings in the spring of 2006. Peace talks are currently stalled.
Central Issues
During the more than 20 years of civil war over 800,000 Sri Lankans have been displaced, both by urban conflict and by LTTE and Sri Lankan army raids on small towns. The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami displaced upwards of 500,000 Sri Lankans, many of whom had not previously been displaced by the civil war. While international aid flowed in comparatively vast quantities to the tsunami-affected displaced communities, not enough was distributed to the conflict-displaced during the first year of recovery. Despite the international relief efforts, return of all displaced persons continues to be greatly impeded by the ongoing violent conflict.
Further Resources
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