Reconciliation between Tamils and the Sinhalese-dominated government in Sri Lanka is elusive as ever, even if the government tries to recruit Tamils into government service such as police work. ‘But such measures look paltry against an internment policy that the EU’s report calls a “novel form of unacknowledged detention”. The government justifies it by citing two reasonable fears: that surviving Tigers will regroup, and that mined areas of the north are unsafe for locals to return to. Yet the government has made only creeping efforts to identify those it could safely release—perhaps a majority of those detained. Such failings suggest that it sees them all as potential enemies.’

Thus, the future of a quarter of a million interned Tamils is a tremendous challenge to Sri Lanka in terms of ethnic reconciliation. After all, the now defeated militant group Tamil Tigers sprang from the Tamil dream to build a separate Tamil homeland. The desire of the Tamils for self-determination and self-rule still rings true, in spite of the LTTE defeat.

The situation in Tamil refugee camps is more than sordid. ‘Under pressure from Western governments, which pay for most of the camps’ food, Mr Rajapaksa promised that 70-80% would be freed by the year’s end. That was three months ago.’

To aggravate the tension between Tamils and Sinhalese is the fact that thousands of Sinhalese are ‘flocking to the east to reclaim land from which the LTTE chased them or their parents’ as encouraged by the government. ‘This risks causing conflict with Tamils and Muslims now farming the land—and reinforces the Tamil belief that the government means to “Sinhalise” the north and east.’

Ethnic reconciliation seems to be an elusive dream in Sri Lanka because the ‘Tamils feel abused by a racist Sinhalese state.’

Via Economist.com