 Return to LNP
|
|
Foreign Govts worried about LTTE links with charities
Sunday, 30 January 2005 - 11:51 PM SL Time
|
|
|
The TRO has become the subject of scrutiny by politicians in Canada and Australia, while the US State Department in Washington has said the TRO's ties to the LTTE are `problematic`, a report by Ashish Kumar Sen, published in the Washinghton Times, said.
The report said:- Links between charities and the LTTE, designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department, have raised concerns in Western governments that the rebel group is using aid meant for victims of the tsunami to buy weapons and replenish its depleted ranks with child soldiers.
One of the prominent groups disbursing humanitarian aid in Sri Lanka, the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), has become the subject of scrutiny by politicians in Canada and Australia, and State Department officials in Washington say the charity's ties to the Tamil Tigers are `problematic.`
The matter is further complicated by the fact that the northeastern areas of Sri Lanka, worst hit by the Dec. 26 tsunami, are strongholds of the LTTE, which has accused the government of blocking relief supplies to the Tamil-dominated regions, while human rights activists say the Tigers are intimidating nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working there.
According to a report on the `Patterns of Global Terrorism - 2003` issued by the office of the coordinator for counter terrorism at the State Department last year, despite the cease-fire the LTTE has not renounced terrorism or disbanded its `Black Tiger`suicide squads.
The LTTE also continues to smuggle weaponry into Sri Lanka and to forcibly recruit children into its ranks, the report says.
The State Department report notes that the LTTE's front organizations support Tamil separatism by lobbying foreign governments and the United Nations. The LTTE also uses its international contacts to `procure weapons, communications, and any other equipment and supplies it needs. The LTTE exploits large Tamil communities in North America, Europe, and Asia to obtain funds and supplies for its fighters in Sri Lanka.`
Teresita Schaffer, director of the South Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka said: `The conventional wisdom was that the LTTE effectively shook down the Tamil diaspora to fund its operations and would send representatives to get money. What tended to make it plausible was that you had periodic shootouts involving Tamil expatriates `F3 some of whom were believed to be LTTE members.`
The State Department has identified the World Tamil Association, World Tamil Movement, the Federation of Associations of Canadian Tamils, the Ellalan Force, and the Sangilian Force as front organizations of the LTTE.
Officials at the department say while the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization is not on this list of `front organizations,` TRO's relationship with the LTTE is `very problematic and it's something law enforcement will need to look into.`
The Canadian government has refused to give the TRO tax-exempt status because of the group's links to the Tamil Tigers.
Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka founded the TRO in 1985 as a `self-help organization.` The group has offices in more than 16 countries. It aims to overcome the economic embargo imposed on Tamil areas in Sri Lanka so that food and medical supplies can reach Tamil refugees.
In the United States, TRO is headquartered in Cumberland, Md.
In December, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the Australian government had not funded the TRO's development program because of its links to the Tamil Tigers.
In 2000, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service identified eight nonprofit organizations in Canada as fronts of the Tamil Tigers. `Most funds raised under the banner of humanitarian organizations such as the TRO are channeled instead to fund the LTTE war effort,` the CSIS report said.
Jo Becker, children's rights advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said the Tamil Tigers are `preying on the most vulnerable by taking advantage of children who have been orphaned or displaced by the tsunami.`
`Children have always been targeted, but children who have lost their homes or families from the tsunami now are even more susceptible to LTTE recruitment,` he warned.
Kirubairaja Somasundaram, a Toronto-based freelance journalist who has done extensive research on the LTTE, said money collected by TRO `goes to the LTTE fund used to purchase military hardware and to maintain their prisons.`
`There is no harm working with the LTTE, but it becomes a serious issue when the LTTE wants to control all the refugee camps to use men and women who have lost their families as auxiliary forces and recruit children,` said Somasundaram.
TRO's U.S. office has collected close to $1 million with the outpouring of support for the victims of the tsunami. Foreign governments will be keeping a close eye on where exactly this money ends up.
|
|
|
|
