No peace in sight for Sri Lanka

By Ethirajan Anbarasan
BBC News

Thousands are trapped by fighting in the Vakarai area

Caught between intense shelling and hostile weather, thousands of trapped civilians in eastern Sri Lanka are desperately hoping for an end to their suffering.

With the armed forces seemingly gearing up for a final assault to wrest the eastern Vakarai region from the Tamil Tiger rebels, there are increasing casualties amongst the remaining Tamil civilians in the area.

Scores of people have been killed in recent months and the army is widely held responsible for most of the deaths.

But the army denies the accusation and says the civilians are being used as human shields by the rebels.

In recent months about 20,000 people have fled the area - through jungles and treacherous waterways - towards government controlled territory.

Most of them are now put up in and around Batticaloa town, about 330km (200 miles) east of the capital Colombo.

With the main highway connecting the two areas closed because of the violence, civilians had to use circuitous routes to reach safety.

Children drowned

Heavy monsoon rains and rough seas prevent them from travelling by sea.

Unable to bear the horrible living conditions some people do take risks.

In December at least 13 civilians, most of them women and children, were drowned when boats capsized off the Vakarai coast.

Sometimes they say, after crossing a lagoon in another part, they had to walk through jungles for two days to cover a distance of only about 15 km (9 miles).

Even while walking, they had to dodge intermittent artillery fire, mortar shells and heavily mined tracts.

About 15,000 civilians are still thought to be trapped inside Vakarai, which is about 60 km (38 miles) north of Batticaloa.

"We must always recall that it is the most weak who remain behind - the elderly, the sick and the disabled," a recent UN statement issued from Colombo said commenting on the situation in Vakarai.

The trapped civilians get caught in the crossfire. Army says they only retaliate to rebel attacks.

Medicine shortage

Tamil rebels, who deny using Tamils as human shields, accuse the army of targeting civilians to facilitate their forthcoming offensive.

The Tigers want an independent homeland for Tamils

Meanwhile, food and medicine are fast running out inside the camps in Vakarai and they had no fresh supplies since November 29th last year.

Many fear that there could be starvation if there are no immediate food supplies.

"There is a severe medicine shortage in the Vakarai hospital and we are unable to treat the critically injured here," Dr Durairaja Varadaraja, a doctor at the government-run hospital in Vakarai told the BBC.

The fear is, if the army tries to capture Vakarai in the coming weeks then there will be bloodshed and many more will die.

With thousands of civilians cornered in a narrow stretch of land, it is hard to imagine any other scenario.

Tamil rebels were initially accused of deliberately preventing civilians to escape, fearing an all-out army onslaught.

But thousands of people have been allowed to leave in recent weeks, and it will be difficult to keep those still remaining in Vakarai for long.

Losing hope

On the other hand, army officials point to the fact that nearly 5,000 civilians - mostly Sinhalese - have fled in another part of the eastern region due to rebel artillery and mortar fire.

Even if the fighting in Vakarai ends, it cannot bring permanent peace.

Despite pleas from the United Nations and donor countries, neither side seems to be stepping back from their hardened positions.

Violence continues in other parts of the island nation as well. Many civilians have been killed in air raids and bus bombings in recent days.

The Norwegian-brokered ceasefire, which completes five years in February, exists only on paper.

The last round of talks in Geneva ended up in a failure and there are no signs of new negotiations.

Three choices

Many Tamils say they were dismayed by the lack of international response to civilian deaths.

They argue that the apathy only strengthens the hardline attitude of some government leaders.

"Tamils do not trust Colombo governments. This peace process was credible only because Norway and the international community were involved. With that hope disappearing Tamils are dejected," says Sri Lankan analyst D B S Jeyaraj.

With both sides ignoring the pleas of ceasefire monitors, the international community may doubt that the warring parties really want peace.

The Sri Lankan government is also struggling to find a political settlement.

Mainstream Sinhala parties are unable to reach consensus on the level of devolution for Tamil areas. Hardline parties oppose any kind of federal solution.

Though the government appears to be preparing a final draft for devolution of powers, the slow process disappoints even moderate Tamils.

They suspect that the government wants to defeat the Tamil Tigers first and then impose a settlement.

"Sadly the message Tamils are getting is that there is no scope for political settlement. This leaves three choices for Tamils. Support the Tamil Tigers, support the government or flee. They are now doing the third," says Mr Jeyaraj.