RI Senior Advocate Larry Thompson and Advocacy Associate Kavita Shukla will undertake a three-week assessment mission to Sri Lanka in December.

Refugees International has undertaken two previous missions to Sri Lanka to assess the situation of 800,000 people, mostly Tamils, displaced by the long-running civil war between the government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).  Although a ceasefire agreement was reached in 2002, only 300,000 of the displaced have returned home, progress toward a peace agreement has been slow, and recent disputes between the President and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka have further jeopardized progress.

At this critical time, the RI team plans to visit the areas in which the displaced persons are located and meet with government and LTTE leaders, UN representatives, mediators to the conflict, non-governmental aid organizations and, most importantly, the victims of this long, brutal conflict.  

The objectives of RI’s mission are:

• To evaluate the needs of the displaced persons in Sri Lanka and the prospects that they will be able to return home safely.  We wish to help ensure that Sri Lanka’s often-neglected displaced persons and refugees receive the help and protection they need to survive in a still dangerous and uncertain environment.
• To look into humanitarian and human rights issues impacting vulnerable groups, such as child soldiers, missing persons, and landmines.
• To suggest possible courses of action by the international community to further the peace process and to provide effective post conflict assistance.  The international aid community has pledged $4.5 billion to help reconstruct Sri Lanka, but little of this money has been disbursed.