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| A monument hit by errant bullets and shrapnel during the war |
This country was broken, but with
the hard work of its people, it is on the mend.
In our ten days in the country, we
spent only four days in the northern province of Sri Lanka where the government
and the Tamil Tigers fought hardest during their thirty years of civil war.
Driving in to Jaffna, the North’s
major city, two things struck me.
Northern Jaffna is how I imagine
the southern United States might have been after the Civil War. On every block
at least a few bombed-out buildings stood. Not one building escaped the cross
fire; I found small bullet and shrapnel holes carved into their thick plaster
walls. Sri Lanka fought three successive wars against the Tamil Tigers between
1983-2009. The most recent war or “humanitarian effort” as the government calls
it lasted from 2006-2009 and culminated with the government soundly defeating
the Tamil Tigers. That victory came at great loss of civilian lives and
livelihoods. Their families missing, their homes destroyed, and their
communities broken, civilians and militants in the north and east of Sri Lanka
are returning to their native land after decades in refugee camps.
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| A bombed-out church in Jaffna |
People are slowly recovering. They
are opening shops, repairing and rebuilding their homes, and learning new
employable skills. Young school girls, dressed all in white, smiled as they
meandered past the shells of former shops and homes. As a victor’s peace, the
government had the option to deny the defeated Tamils of all reconstruction
efforts and foreign aid. For the most part, it has dedicated itself to
appeasing the former combatants through reconciliation and rehabilitation so
that the war never happens again.
For now, Sri Lanka has peace. It
should last, but no one, not the Sri Lankan military officers nor the Tamil
civilians would tell us without a doubt that peace would be permanent.
**An additional note: Since
returning to America, I have talked with many family members and friends.
Few of them knew that Sri Lanka had a war that ravaged its country
off and on for 30 years, or that the two main forces were the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE). The country is rebuilding, but many issues
remain unresolved (e.g. property rights, freedom of speech, human rights abuses,
and English language education - to name a few).
