An open letter to all Patriotic Sri Lankans on the eve of Local Government Elections.Dr Sudath Gunasekara 18.1.2018. This is the most important and critical question every Sri Lankan, especially every Sinhala man and woman old and young and even the unborn who loves his/her country should pause to their innermost soul in this most critical hour of this nationIt is true this election is not a…

Sri Lankans anxious, take deep breaths as county awaits new president

Sri Lankans anxious, take deep breaths as county awaits new president (more…)

On a recent Sunday morning on Sri Lanka’s Jaffna Peninsula, Packiyanathan Rajkumar was standing on a swampy dirt road that cuts across the Thondamanaru Lagoon. He often visits this site to research the many bird species here. But they’re species he’s never fully studied—because wading into the water could end his life in a literal flash.

Every few minutes, after pulling up his black pant legs to slog through yet another enormous puddle, the ornithologist would stop, point, and say, “Look at this,” in awe of his surroundings. Mangroves grew tall and thick across a sheet of lightly rippling water. White cranes fluttered under a sky washed pale blue by the rising sun. Aside from the occasional buzz of a distant motorbike, everything was quiet.

This road once served as part of the border between the Sri Lankan military and separatists known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, with whom the government fought a ruthless civil war from 1983 to 2009. Both sides laid mines in the shallow lagoons of the country’s Northern Province, and though much of the terrain has been cleared, a large swath of the Thondamanaru Lagoon remains littered with explosives. For decades, few people have ventured here aside from a handful of fishermen who, in search of tilapia, drift onto the water in paddleboats.

By Jennifer Dathan [ Issue 22.3 ]

Landmine clearance training being conducted in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Image courtesy of Iain Overton, AOAV, 2017.

The Sri Lankan Civil War (July 1983–May 2009), between the government and the Tamil Tigers, was a conflict marked by the extensive use of explosive weapons. Predominantly affecting the majority-Tamil areas in the north and east (Tamil Eelam), the violence left deep scars upon the communities in these areas. The land is still heavily marked by the legacy of landmines, air-dropped bombs, and other explosive remnants of war (ERW).

Over the course of 26 years, widespread use of explosive weapons is thought to have killed more than 100,000 people and left many more injured. Many survivors are missing limbs, while others are left with shrapnel embedded in their bodies, and still more are impacted by post-traumatic stress disorders and grief. By the time the civil war came to an end, 300,000 civilians had been internally displaced, and 145,000 had sought refuge abroad, where many remain. Throughout the areas most heavily impacted, much of the infrastructure lays in ruins with at least 350,000 homes damaged or destroyed.

Unsurprisingly, the long-term socioeconomic impact from the widespread use of explosive weapons in this conflict has been profound, not least because of the extensive explosive contamination of the land. During the conflict, it was estimated that 650 minefields were created, preventing civilians from returning home, accessing land, and rebuilding their lives.

Sri Lanka reaffirmed its commitment to working towards achieving universalization and to advancement of the objectives of the Convention at the Eighth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munition today, Ministry of Finance said. The Meeting of States Parties welcomed Sri Lanka as the 103rd State Party, and looked forward to Sri Lanka's leadership in humanitarian disarming.

Addressing the Eighth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munition today, Ambassador A.L.A Azeez assured continuous cooperation and active contribution during the Meeting of the States Parties, in a spirit of constructive engagement and dialogue that the country manifest in its partnership with all treaty mechanisms.  

"We take this opportunity to thank the ‘Coordinators on Universalization’, France and Panama, for their excellent efforts, supported by the Implementation Support Unit (ISU), towards promoting universalization.  We welcome Namibia, as the newest State Party to the Convention, today." Ambassador A.L.A Azeez noted.