Photo Credit: Refugees International/Eugene Carlson
01/09/2005

The Tamil Tiger’s home is a de facto country within a country, comprising roughly 25 percent of Sri Lanka. The LTTE maintains its own military, schools, police, laws and courts. Crossing into the region is strictly controlled and not assured. Prior approval, with passport numbers and reason for visiting, is required of all foreigners and most Sri Lankans. At the border, passports and luggage are closely inspected. As a consequence, there is a huge bottleneck for the limited amount of aid that flows north to their region. At this customs stop, every truck, including those carrying relief supplies for survivors of the tsunami, must stop and offload its entire cargo. Customs officers inspect each item. While relief supplies pass duty free, everything else is slapped with a stiff import tax.