Canada's role in Sri Lanka's crisis

As Sri Lankan military forces try to overrun the last remaining strongholds of the LTTE rebel group (better known as the Tamil Tigers), how should Canada respond?

Canada once had a low-profile relationship with Sri Lanka. But that changed after the country’s 1983 pogrom, when thousands of Tamils and Muslims were killed. More than 250,000 Sri Lankan Tamils have come to Canada as refugees since then, making Canada home to the largest Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in the world. Meanwhile, the Tigers — who once controlled large swathes of the island nation — have engaged in an on-again, off-again war with the Sri Lankan government. Understanding the history of this conflict is critical if Canada is to help develop a solution for the conflict.

Following its independence from Britain in 1948 (at which time the country was still known as Ceylon), Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese-dominated government introduced several laws to institutionalize discrimination against the minority Tamil population. In 1972, Buddhism was made the primary religion of the state, and discriminatory laws were passed against religious minorities (most Tamils are Hindu). Sinhalese rioters during this period attacked temples and churches, killing hundreds. That led to the formation of many small Tamil militant groups, one of which was the Tamil Tigers.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the West paid only modest attention to Sri Lanka’s internal conflict. But since 9/11, the country is seen in a different light. The Tigers — a conventional military force that has perpetrated acts of terror — have been banned in 31 countries, including Canada.

The Tigers and the Sri Lankan government have had several rounds of peace talks, but the guns remained truly silent only for a short while. In 2002, the two sides entered into peace talks brokered by Norway, with both parties agreeing to the establishment of an autonomous Tamil region in the northern part of the country. Unfortunately, both groups violated the terms of the agreement, and Sri Lanka finally called off the talks in January, 2008.

Since then, Sri Lanka’s army has scored many battlefield victories. But ultimately, there can be no military solution to the conflict: Even if the Tigers lose all their bases, Sri Lanka’s government will not be able to defeat the Tigers as a guerrilla force. In the meantime, civilians continue to be caught in the crossfire between a racist government and a rebel force that is militarily outgunned and shunned internationally.

If a negotiated political solution is to come about, the Tigers must clarify their acceptance of a Tamil nation within a united Sri Lanka, and commit to disarm. For its part, the government of Sri Lanka must agree to treat the country’s Tamils in a more humane and equitable fashion. The current stage of the conflict — in which an alarming number of civilians have died at the hands of government forces — only reinforces Tamil concerns in this regard.

The international community must convince the Sri Lankan government and Tigers alike to arrive at a permanent resolution through peaceful negotiations. Canada could play an especially important role. In fact, our federal system (which could be a model for Sri Lanka) and our large Tamil diaspora makes us a credible candidate to lead the peace talks

The question is: Do we have an appetite to see the world beyond Iraq and Afghanistan? If so, this could be Canada’s moment.

Vijay Sappani