British Delegation visits Trincomalee
 

By Dushy Ranetunge in Trincomalee

On Wednesday, Trincomalee played host to the Rt. Hon. Pual Murphy MP, Chairman of the British Intelligence and Security Committee and Chris Maccabe CB, Political Director of the Northern Ireland Office. They were accompanied by Lesley Craig, the British Deputy High Commissioner in Colombo and other Embassy staff.

Earlier in the day, Dr. Palitha Kohona, Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat and Mr. Sajin Vaas Gunewardene, Co-ordinating Secretary to the President flew to Trincomalee to receive the British House of Commons delegation in Trincomalee.

After an impressive military briefing on the situation in the Trincomalee district by Major General Mendaka Samarasinghe, the party crossed Trincomalee bay to the Naval Dockyard to receive the British delegation. Mr. Murphy was a former Cabinet Minister responsible for Northern Irish affairs, and was closely involved in the Northern Ireland peace process. He is currently the Chairman of the British Intelligence and Security Committee.

It was stated that British government and the IRA were given parity status at the negotiating table and that each party irrespective of the share of votes was given two seats at the negotiating table. However, a higher British authority had conveyed a different view to the Rajapaksa administration.

Concern was expressed about the security situation and the resultant loss of security for ordinary citizens in the North and East, particularly Tamils. It was stated that in most countries refugees were destitute, but that Sri Lanka is a relatively wealthy country with resources.

It is a fact that Tamil expatriates investing in Sri Lanka are almost completely ploughing their resources in Colombo and the suburbs and almost nothing is being invested in terrorist held areas. Therefore addressing the issue of terrorism is a matter of urgency in order to ensure democracy and pluralism in the North and the East to create a stable political environment to attract investment in addition to various State initiatives.

It is unlikely that Colombo is deliberately treating its Tamil citizens any differently, but more likely that in areas of conflict like in Northern Ireland during the early years, there are less opportunities and investment for those living in areas of conflict.

Commandeering and diversion of State resources by terrorists by coercion for use as dual technology to enhance their fighting capability, results in less resources for Tamil civilians. The situation is further aggravated by terrorist taxation/extortion further squeezing scarce resources out of the Tamil civilian economy and into the terrorist economy.

What has been articulated above is a Western perception of the Sri Lankan conflict as perceived by large sections of the international community.

They are viewing the Sri Lankan conflict with the luxury of being outside observers, with the perceptions, prejudices, humanity, equality, fairplay, clarity and logic that such a position affords.

The purpose of the visit is to share the experiences of the peace process in Northern Ireland with the parties to the Sri Lankan conflict, obviously with good intentions of encouraging the Sri Lankan peace process.

The visit of the British Delegation is one of goodwill, to share experiences and promote the cause of peace, which is welcomed by all Sri Lanka?s communities.