The tales of grief are everywhere. A firsthand account of welfare camps written by Dr Thaya Thiagarajah, a psycho-social consultant, speaks of separated families, civilians with gruesome injuries, tight security and dismal conditions inside welfare camps.

“Nobody was allowed to get into the camp,” she writes. “The schools are being used as the interim camps. But they were putting up sheds which I would call tents about 5-6 meters in length. They had put barbed wires around the camps like those around the army camps. People could see those inside only from the other side of the road. The security was very tight.”

The visual and psychological impact of barbed wire is strong and stark. It evokes memories of concentration camps and some international journalists have already used the comparison in their writing. Sharp and inhospitable, barbed wire is generally used to keep out predators or to keep in prisoners. So why has it been installed in “welfare camps” for the displaced?

Some commentators feel the government doesn’t care about these civilians. “I think, crudely, the government wants to make life as uncomfortable as possible for people when they come out,” said a westerner working for an international think tank. He did not wish to be quoted. Others are more accommodating. “I think they are trying their best but certainly a lot of concerns need to be addressed,” said a source from an international NGO. He, too, did not wish to be identified.

Weeding out the Tigers

One of the trickiest issues faced by the government is the weeding out of Tigers who are inevitably lurking among civilians. “A journalist who visited an IDP camp in Vavuniya told me that a woman said softly that she can’t speak to him,” recounted the westerner earlier quoted. “He asked whether it was because there were soldiers around and she replied: ‘No, they are here, they are here’. The LTTE is good at blurring the lines between cadres and civilians.”

“Yes, there are terrorists among civilians,” said Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, military spokesman. How did they know? “We have identified certain numbers,” he replied. “Some people have confessed that they had undergone training and request rehabilitation.”

Asked what happens to them once identified, he said the adults (“if they are hardcore”) would be sent to rehabilitation camps at Tellipalai and Welikanda while former child soldiers are taken to a centre in Ambepussa. “So far, nobody has been arrested,” Brig Nanayakkara said. There are around 200 cadres undergoing rehabilitation at Welikanda alone.

Camps

All displaced persons seeking protection in government territory are sent to the camps. This includes those who have relatives in other parts of the country that are willing to house them. Some civilians inside the camps are residents of Vavuniya but can’t move into their homes in that town. Movement outside the camps is barred. According to reports, inmates are even prohibited from visiting family members in hospital or attending the funerals of those who have died. Every incoming civilian is screened by military intelligence and registered. No international agency or organisation is present during this procedure. “I am concerned, not so much about the camps per se, but the prior stages of screening for LTTE presence,” said another aid community source, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It is not transparent. There is no reason in the world why they can’t have the ICRC present, to create confidence that they are not pulling people aside and just killing them. There is no transparency.”

Human Rights Watch, whose voice is influential in international circles, also highlighted this issue. Its statement last week complained that international humanitarian agencies were “no longer allowed to adequately monitor the government’s screening process of new arrivals to government-controlled areas, and that there were reports of the security forces taking away LTTE suspects to arbitrary detention and possible enforced disappearances”.

But the government remains firm on this issue. “How can ICRC, international organisations or anybody else do screening?” asked Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. “Only security people can do that. The problem is that people start creating doubts even before we start doing anything.”

“This is a sovereign country,” he asserted. “We have systems here. We have a sense of responsibility, the capacity and capability. We know terrorists will come with the people. We are doing the screening and people must have confidence in us. It is not the ICRC’s task to get involved. They have signed a memorandum with the Sri Lanka Government in which their specific duties are identified.”

“People come here and get involved in things that are not their business,” he continued. “When ambassadors come here, they start doing politics. That is not their job. Our ambassador in the US will never be allowed to do politics. Our high commissioner in the UK cannot meet people all over the countryside and do politics.”

Freedom of movement

As routines fall into place and new procedures are adopted, international agencies are hoping that life becomes easier for the civilians. Family members are being reunited. More temporary shelters are being constructed. Children have resumed “school”. Clinics meet the medical needs of the displaced. Toilet and bathing facilities are expected to improve when more money and assistance is received.

The most crucial requirement, however, is freedom of movement which would contribute towards building confidence among the Tamil population. Nobody detained indefinitely in “open prisons” will feel benevolent towards the government. It is learnt that the government will soon issue identity cards to the displaced. It is not known, however, whether these will permit them to move freely around Vavuniya, gain employment or live life as normally as possible. All attempts to contact Basil Rajapaksa, the parliamentarian overseeing this subject, failed last week.

It is also not clear when the displaced will be resettled in their villages. With the conventional battle between the LTTE and military still raging, it might be irrational to raise the question. Nevertheless, it is imperative that the government handles displaced civilians in a humane and dignified manner which builds confidence and creates a platform for lasting peace.

Any ill-treatment of these helpless Tamils will undermine the prospect of a lasting political solution. A lack of transparency will undermine the credibility of the government with Tamils. A failure to give heed to their legitimate grievances and urgent needs will only create a repetition of the vicious cycle.

Pressure from international quarters has been welcome because it has kept the government on its toes. In the final equation, however, it is not about satisfying the requirements of “foreigners who butt their noses into every bit of your business”. It should be about appealing to the Tamil people so that they permanently desert the LTTE — physically and ideologically — out of a sense of genuine sense of trust in the government.

(This article is reproduced from Lakbima News.It appeared under the heading “A state’s dilemma;Catching terrorists or caging civilians behind barbed wires?”)