Out of the Frying Pan

As the 25 year-old Sri Lankan civil ware enters its death throws the Western media have finally started reporting the plight of the Tamil civilians.

Today's exodus from the so called 'Safe Zone" is just the latest ordeal faced by these wretched people.

Before that they were trapped in the the "Safe Zone'", a tiny strip of land between between the sea and the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) controlled area, as the SLA unleashed a continuous barrage of shells on them. The civilians were literally trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea. Thousands died as result.

Before that they has been forced to flee from their makeshift homes in the Vanni to the east coast as the SLA attacked and captured the areas controlled by the Tamil Tigers.

And before that, back in 1995, they were forced to flee from their homes in the Jaffna peninsula to the Vanni as the SLA attacked and captured Jaffna.

No one can even begin to imagine the horrors they have been through. Being continuously forced to flee, leaving their homes, possessions, and often, their families behind. The physical scars may heal but the psychological scars will stay with them forever.

What now awaits those who have fled the "Safe Zone"? Will they be allowed to return to their homes and families? No. They will be herded into large concentration camps in the Vanni from which they can't leave and which outside agencies/media can't visit. A case of "out of the frying pan and into the fire". Over the coming months these people somehow "disappear" from the face of the earth.

The "international community" has urged restraint from the Sri Lankans but has not enforced this. The Sri Lankans have successfully defied the "international community''. This is a telling sign for all other peoples trying to achieve freedom. If the "international community'' cannot control a small developing country like Sri Lanka, what hope do the Palestinians, Tibetans etc have?

At the beginning of the 21st century, human civilisation has produced numerous treaties, conventions, declarations etc which lay down on paper the rights and freedoms of every human being. But when it comes to actions (not words) needed to protect oppressed people, such as the Tamils, humanity is at best indifferent, at worst culpable.