Genocide? Abuse? Assaults? Live Journal from Vavuniya, Sri Lanka – By Dr W Shermal Perera.
Preamble…
THE three of us* arrived in Colombo on 14th July 2009 (Tuesday) and were scheduled to travel and visit the orphans at the IDP (Internally Displaced Per-sons) centres in the North-ern district of Vavuniya. Genocide, abuse and as-saults, assassinations, hun-ger, malnutrition, mutilated bodies, continuous cries from children, hunger, an-ger and rage were some of the thoughts that filled our minds before the trip. These disturbing thoughts and images were com-monly discussed and high-lighted in the international press and media, through the internet, at functions, and other avenues, all over the world. We were mentally prepared to encounter the after-effects of a post-conflict crisis. Some of us felt that we were “walking into the enemy‟s hands”, and we would not be able to witness the true situation at the IDP centres as the Sri Lankan authorities would want to portray a „favourable‟ image to us. Needless to say, we were cautioned by our family and friends not to make this trip.
The impetus of our trip - In May 2009, Sri Lanka announced victory against the LTTE (Liberation of Tamil Tiger Elam). This was a 26 year (begun in 1983) war and during this time, Sri Lanka had channelled significant amount of funds in trying to defeat the LTTE.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Buddhist temple (SLBT) situated in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, had an orphanage in Delgoda, Sri Lanka (30 miles from Colombo), that was nearing completion. This orphanage was initiated after the Tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka and is able to house a maximum of 200 orphans. The Temple‟s Committee unanimously de-cided and volunteered that the orphanage be used to provide tem-porary shelter for any orphans from the IDP camps. Hence, our mis-sion was to perform a viability study on the practicalities and the need to mobilise orphans from the IDP camps to the Delgoda Or-phanage. We were also mindful that this could be seen in a negative light by the public, wherein a Sri Lankan Buddhist temple in Malaysia is housing Tamil orphans from the IDP camps.
We understood that the criteria of selection must be that the or-phans/children were in deplorable/critical conditions and that our assistance would benefit them. We also understood that our duties and responsibilities were great, i.e. we had to provide necessary assistance from psychiatric, medical, lodging, food and most impor-tantly, a successful relocation programme.
At this point, it is important to note that the three of us will report what we saw at the IDP camps irrespective of our race or religion. We will report the facts without any prejudice from either side, politi-cal influence, personal ill-feeling or religious sway. We will report on what we personally witnessed and evaluated through our profes-sional opinion. We are fully aware that if we misrepresented any facts, our reputation and standing in society will be tarnished.
I am a committee member of the SLBT in Malaysia whilst Dr Veronica and Mr Chandran are independent and did not represent any society or establishment. Noteworthy - Our trip was funded by ourselves.
* A brief background of our expedition - Dr W Shermal Perera, a second-generation Sri Lankan Sinhalese living in Malaysia, and managing a biotechnology Company. Mr Gnanachandran S Ayadurai, a second-generation Sri Lankan Tamil (Ceylonese) born and raised in Malaysia, and retired Partner of one of the Big 4 accounting firms; and Dr Veronica Shanti Chelliah, half Ceylonese and half Sri Lankan Sinhalese, and owns her own private medical practice in Malaysia.
Putting the wheels in motion…
I had informed the Sri Lankan Embassy in Malaysia of our intention in using the Temple‟s orphanage in Delgoda as a temporary facility to house the displaced orphans. I had indicated my travel plans to the IDP camps in Vavuniya to offer my help and service. The Embassy provided their full support in terms of our travel plans and had also discussed this proposition with the relevant authorities in Sri Lanka. In the meantime, upon hearing my plans to travel to the Northern district, both Dr Veronica and Mr Chandran decided to join me on this landmark trip.
Our journey begins…
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Figure 1: (from Left to Right) Dr W Shermal Perera, Mr I G Chandran and Dr Veronica Chelliah, en route to Vavuniya |
We left the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo, at the wee hours of 3.20 a.m. in order to arrive at the check point at 8 a.m (see Fig. 1). At 7.45 a.m., we got to the check point and we saw many people going across the check point. There was a complete check of our vehi-cle. Our passports were checked against the permits. We were then informed to meet the Head of the IDP centres, Brigadier L. C Perera at the Army Camp.
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Figure 2: IDPs at Zone 3 |
Brigadier Perera then proceeded to give us a detailed explanation about what took place during the war. He said that many Sri Lankan Tamils were rescued and transported to the IDP camps. He said that they had no way of knowing who was a LTTE member and they had accepted the fact that probably most of the people rescued, in one way or the other, had assisted the LTTE‟s movements. He said that these people were not at fault; they probably had no choice on the matter. Ultimately, the Sri Lankan Government‟s aim is to rebuild their homes and relocate them to their place of habitat within the shortest period of time.
There are about 270,000 people at the IDP camps, approximately 160,000 adults and 110,000 children. We enquired about death tolls and he mentioned that it was between 4–10 deaths per day. The records revealed that almost 80% of the deaths were people over 60 years. 95% of the deaths were cases related to medical conditions such as diabetes/heart conditions. We were impressed when Brigadier LC mentioned that the IDPs were getting 1,900 Kcal daily, close to the required standard of 2,100 Kcal daily as per the World Food Programme (WFP‟s) standard. We did observe several cases of IDPs who were malnourished, specifically in the hospitals. However, at the makeshift schools, there weren‟t any sighted.
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Figure 3: Zone 3-most populated camp |
Zone 3 is the most congested when compared to Zone 1 and 2, as it houses the most number of people (see Fig. 2 & 3). This Zone is the one that manages the 100,000 people that evacuated the terrorist control area. The tents look stable and it was apparent that during strong winds and rain, the tents could be secured to provide safe liv-ing conditions. What was also apparent was that the people in these camps did not show any fear of the Army personnel. Most went about on their daily routines. We also noticed that the people we saw in the camps were generally not malnourished. We saw people preparing their meals, having baths and chatting with each other. Most impor-tantly, we never witnessed any person running away from us or even running towards us in rage or remorse. None asked us for any help or begged for money.
Apart from the camp sites you see in the pictures, there are areas in each camp where there are banks, shops selling food and groceries, barber, and collection sites (for food and basic amenities). The banks have been established for the IDPs to keep their monies. This provides security for the Sri Lankan Tamils who are there. We witnessed peo-ple lining up in an orderly fashion to collect their food and amenities. There was no chaos which showed that the people may have been satisfied with the way the sup-plies were handled and distrib-uted at the collection centres (see Fig. 4).
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Figure 4: IDPs queuing for food and other supplies |
Currently, there are growing cases of Typhoid and common dysenteric diseases. The Sri Lankan Government has consulted an irrigation spe-cialist to better manage the water treatments in the area. In Figure 5 above, you can see the medical camp by the Government of India which has been there for the past 6 months and is located at Zone 1. The Indian Government has supported the IDPs by providing about 60 medically trained staff and medicine supplies. The hospital is fully equipped with trained personnel who are receptive to these condi-tions. The supplies are brought in regularly. We had a good session with them and did discuss their challenging times. I must give India full credit for taking the interest and helping the patients in these camps. Question...If a medical team from India can be stationed at the IDP camp to help these people, where are the other countries and their help?
Our most enjoyable visit was to the school in these camps. The children are divided into various age groups and they are thought the basic school curriculum (see Fig. 6 & 7). We expected children in dirty and torn clothing, mentally scarred and shudder and run away when they saw us. If there were indeed atrocities, wouldn‟t you expect the chil-dren to be affected first? Instead, it was simply the opposite of what we had expected as captured in these pictures. They speak clearly and loudly in Tamil with full of zest. Both Mr Chandran and Dr Veronica inter-viewed some of them to learn if there was any harm being inflicted on them.
We discovered that they had one major complain – they softly whispered to Mr Chandran that they had been requesting to play football but have not been given a ball yet! (see Fig. 8) I laughed in relief...relief since we were all satisfied that the IDPs have been taken care of by the authorities to the best of their ability. The NGOs and UN-funded agencies are doing a fantastic job with the Sri Lankan Government, through Brigadier L. C. Perera, in handling the IDP camps.
The people in Sri Lanka are professionals and unsung heroes. There are many who would like to discredit and create negative propa-ganda for Sri Lanka. I will not waste my time contemplating on the possible reasons except to say „PLEASE VISIT SRI LANKA AND SEE FOR YOURSELF‟ and if you decide to go, please remember to include footballs in your suitcase.
We left Sri Lanka feeling that there is a new beginning to all of this. I can‟t help but feel excited for the Country. She has a bright future, a very very bright one indeed. Those who would like to help, please visit the people or organisation that you trust and please provide the necessary assistance. Sri Lanka is „now 1 nation‟ and „no more 2‟. The Sri Lankan Sinhalese and Tamils belong to Sri Lanka. We wish hearti-est and heartfelt congratulations to all in Sri Lanka and a new begin-ning with happiness, peace and prosperity.
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AS WE SAW IT on 16 JULY 2009...and you do not have to believe it. But this is, as it was... – By IG Chandran |
How it all started
It was first mooted when Dr Shermal Perera got news that there were several orphans in the IDP camps. The immediate response was what we could do to help these children. A temporary home in a Colombo orphanage was one of the options. It was not going to be that easy that the authorities were going to hand over orphans to us. The only way to make an informed decision was to actually visit the IDP camps. And for that, we needed permits from the Ministry of Defense (MOD).
Dr Shermal Perera was in contact with the Government of Sri Lanka‟s (GOSL) High Commission in Kuala Lumpur and its Deputy High Com-missioner, HE Major General Udaya Perera provided full support. He actually encouraged us to go and see the IDP camp for ourselves. Hence, the decision was for us to see the state of the camps and as-sess their needs.
Flying into Colombo and road journey to Vavuniya
Three of us (Dr Shermal Perera, Dr Veronica and myself) flew out on Tuesday, 14th July 2009 to Colombo and it was 9pm by the time we checked into our hotel. We got our MOD permit in the late afternoon on Wednesday, 15th July, and decided to depart for the Menik IDP camps in Vavuniya early on Thursday, 16th morning. Dr Shermal‟s old friend provided us with a 4 wheel drive and a driver, and we de-parted at 330am. We were at the Vavuniya checkpoint by 730am and after checking and clearance, we had free access to all the sur-rounding villages where life seems to be going on as normal. There was military/police presence, but not over bearing. Apart from 2 checkpoints, nobody stopped us to search or check for anything. We then communicated by mobile phone with Brig LC Perera, the Chief Coordinator for the IDP, and were directed to the HQ.
Chat with Brigadier LC Perera
We started off with saying that our primary purpose was to see how we could help the child orphans, to which the Brigadier explained that the GOSL had taken special responsibility for this part of the IDP and in fact it was under the direct purview of the First Lady.
He then gave us some pertinent information and some were in re-sponse to our questions:
110,000 IDP children;160,000 IDP adults; Average 7 fatalities a day (mainly above 60 and for illness pre-IDP such as diabetes, cardiac); There was another camp of 17,000 in Jaffna; There were small camps starting January 2009; The avalanche was in May when they had 100,000 one day and 85,000 the next day. They just could not cope with the volume and had to use 250 buses (packing 100 to a bus) and before that used tractors to transport them out of the lagoon to the buses. The IDPs were starving, fatigued, unclean and in a sad state; It took 72 hours non-stop work to clear 7 sq kilometers to ready the camps; The earlier zones (there are 3 zones) were zinc huts but later they were canvas tents mainly from China; Zone 1 was devel-oped in Nov 08, Zone 2 in Jan 09 and Zone 3 in May 09; Each Zone is further divided into blocks and each block has its own kitchen; The IDPs have drawn out their own roster for cooking responsibilities; The NGO‟s provide 1,900 Kcal of food daily (2,100 Kcal is the recom-mended amount as per WFP); There are 2 hospitals (1 donated and managed by India with 60 staff and an operating theatre); There are also makeshift schools for children with desks and chairs; Brig Perera also showed some pictures taken from his mobile when they flew over the lagoon and the beach before the final push - The beach was fully dotted with people (now IDPs) which the LTTE had looped as cover; About 10,000 LTTE cadres have surrendered and they have been put in separate camps; The guess is that there are another 1,500-2,000 LTTE members still in the camps; All the IDPs have in the last 25-30 years lived under LTTE environment and will need counseling set-tling into free livelihood; The immediate assistance needed was sup-plementary food and personal effects (such as chicken, oil, chilly, dried fish, umbrellas, footwear). Brig Perera will be happy to receive these or the funding for these through any approved NGO or the Government.
Visit to the IDP Camps
Brig LC Perera offered us to accompany him in his vehicle and our car followed behind. This is what we saw:
There were sentry points to enter each camp; Yes, there was perime-ter barbed wire fencing. There have to be boundaries….; We zigged zagged in and out of each zone and inside the zones. It was as it was. There was no preparation of a show for us; It was very hot and dusty especially with the winds and the arid surface soil; There were water hy-drants where there were queues in some and where in others some were bathing in the open because of over-crowded bathrooms; There was virtu-ally no military presence inside the camps. The IDPs were going about their daily lives freely; We visited both hospitals; The Government hospital was crowded but orderly. There were 2 doctors on duty. It was in a huge hangar sized tent with the inscription „FROM THE PEO-PLE OF JAPAN‟. However, there are more doctors needed to relieve the existing ones; The Indian hospital (zinc corrugated structure) funded by the Government of India was less crowded. The 2 Indian doctors on duty explained that they have enough medicines: There was movement of drinking water supply tankers and construction vehi-cles; There were UN and NGO vehicles too; There were banks and ATM machines in each zone; There were grocery stores in each zone; There was a mobile phone network; The density of tents seemed crowded; Spoke to the children in some of the classes. They were in happy spirits and had rice and fish for their meal. They were clean and well clothed and some had holy ash on their forehead (indicating prayer before attending school). It was a mathematics class in pro-gress; We were not stopped from speaking with anyone and seeing anything; Nobody came running to us crying for freedom and to free them from atrocities, if any; I saw a couple of ladies wearing their gold thalikodi (matrimony chain) and walking about freely
Conclusion
We have to put this into context. There are about 300,000 IDPs, and in such influx, and it is post conflict, and in a third world country. It is a tremendous effort and in our view, let‟s not be dragged away from the real issue by just the picture of IDPs behind “barbed wires”. So much is being done, and has been done, with priority to resettlement and retraining vocation such as fishing. Resettlement can‟t be hurried. There has to be housing, utilities and basic infrastructure, and most important of all, the villages have to be demined before resettlement.
Sri Lanka needs help and the IDPs need help. Let’s look forward. Live Journal from IDP Camps at Vavuniya, Sri Lanka, By Dr Veronica Chelliah
How it all started…
On the 10th July 2009, I got to know that Dr Shermal Perera was travelling to Sri Lanka to visit the IDP camps in Vavuniya. I learnt that he intended to identify orphans and relocate them to an orphanage in Delgoda (30 miles off Colombo) by the Sri Lanka Buddhist Temple in Sentul, Malaysia. Apparently, the orphanage was approximately 80% completed and could house about 200 orphans at full capacity.
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Figure 5: At the medical clinic run by the Government of India at Zone 1. Brig. L C Perera is 2nd from the right |
I thought this was a noble and kind initiative. However, I was concerned about the following issues:
• The children had only recently lost both parents in war and were probably still shaken up and scared. The trip to Colombo may add fear to them;
• The children may have devel-oped a sense of trust and bonded with their caretakers at the camps and may feel inse-cure by the transfer and new caretakers;
• Whether the facilities at the orphanage in Delgoda would be ade-quate; and
• The mental, emotional and psychological state of the children and whether the transfer would aggravate their emotional and psycho-logical state of mind.
Notwithstanding the above issues, if the Delgoda orphanage offered an improved alternative, then, the relocation and transfer is still a workable option to explore. Furthermore, I also thought about the caretakers and whether there was sufficient manpower with relevant experience to cater for the children‟s psychological needs. I went on to picture the photographs that have been in circulation over the press and internet and the „hear-say‟ stories from my patients and friends to which I shuddered and began to weep. The fear crept into me at this point thinking about the unknown and imagining the worst.
At this point, I realised that there could be many different scenarios of the current state of affairs of the orphans and decided to make a personal assessment of the orphans and conditions at the IDP camps. I made a call to Dr Shermal, and the next thing I knew, I was invited to a dinner at Dr Shermal‟s house where I met the Deputy High Commis-sioner of Sri Lanka to Malaysia, H.E. Major General Udaya Perera and his wife Thelma, and Mr IG Chandran, who I learnt was also trav-eling together with us to Colombo. Major General was in full support of us going to personally visit the camps in our own capacity. He in-formed the Ministry of Defense in Sri Lanka of our intentions to visit the orphans and to travel to the IDP camps. He also told us that he would organise the respective Army personnel to facilitate our permits to allow entry into the Vavuniya area.
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Figure 6: Lessons in progress at makeshift classrooms in Zone 2 (Age: 14 - 15 yrs) |
Figure 7: Lessons in progress at makeshift classrooms in Zone 2 (Age: 10 - 12 years) |
At this juncture, I would like to declare that I was going on the trip in my personal capacity and not representing any organisation as such. We travelled from Kuala Lumpur to Colombo on 14th July 2009. On arrival, Dr Shermal started to communicate with Captain Silva (our contact in Sri Lanka organised by Major General Udaya) to obtain our permits to travel up North. At this point, all our particulars were collected and submitted for approval by the Ministry of Defence.
As our permits were being organised, on the 15th of July, we decided to travel to the orphanage in Delgoda to assess its stage of comple tion and suitability to house the orphans. Although it was 80% com-pleted, I was not convinced that any orphans could be admitted over the next 1 month at least. The classrooms were completed but the accommodation facilities still required additional work.
On the following day (16th of July), we started our journey to Va-vuniya at 3.30 a.m. Dr Shermal‟s close friend, Mr Ranil Pathirana, offered the services of his personal driver, Mr Prasad, and his vehi-cle for our mission. We arrived at the Vavuniya check point at about 8 a.m. It was interesting to note that we were able to travel freely after this check point. We then travelled to meet Brigadier L.C Per-era, the Head of the IDP centres.
We were warmly greeted by Brigadier Perera at his office where he briefed us on the history and the sequence of events that took place during the war and how the Sri Lankan Tamils were rescued and taken to the camps. He also showed us on the map the locations of the camps and zones into which they were divided into.
We took turns to ask many questions and Brigadier Perera was extremely coop-erative and answered all our questions with great ease. Over and above all the statistics and numbers indi-cated in Dr Shermal‟s and Mr Chandran‟s writeups, of which I concur, the following are my additional points:
Deaths
An average of 7 deaths occurred on a daily basis. There was a medical record that Brigadier LC Perera referred to and read out statistics with details such as age, gender and cause of death. He summarised the main causes of deaths as - Myocardial Infarction, Cerebrovascular Accidents, Pneumonia, Typhoid, Hepatitis A and complications of Diabetes and Septicemia. More than 90% of the deaths were due to the above causes and almost 80% of the deaths were those above 60 years. Important to note that most of these illnesses were prevalent prior to admission into the IDP camps.
Orphans
We were told that the resettlement of the orphans has now come under the special attention of the Government, and the First Lady has taken special interest in this matter. The trip was short, hence, we were unable to get the necessary permits to see these children. It was good to hear that the children were placed under high security protection for their safety.
Medical – Aid
There were two hospitals that we visited:
• One by the Indian Government
• One by the Sri Lankan Government – facilities donated by the People of Japan
All the doctors attending to the patients served with a smile and in a very friendly nature. There were also doctors from local hospitals around Sri Lanka and India. We had the opportunity to meet four doctors and discussed the various problems faced. Medically and surgically, there seemed to be sufficient relief for the time being. The availability of medical drugs seems sufficient. However, I am not aware of the availability of any psychologists and/or counselors at the site. If there is none, then, it is imperative to put this in place.
I am also concerned with the IDPs dietary requirements. Due to the number of poorly controlled diabetics and related complications, I assume that this is due to no provisions being made for a special diabetic diet. If this is the case, then, there should be a block in each camp to cater for the diabetics. There are laboratory facilities and X-Ray facilities to help in diagnosing the IDPs. Clinical examination is the main method of diagnosing due to the large number of patients. It is more efficient at this stage to provide prophylactic treatment to those who are ill rather than performing laboratory tests and investi-gations. The doctors involved in the IDP camps are well-trained and are able to make clinical judgement and calls with minimal diagnos-tics. The medical care is not what you would be faced in a clinical/hospital in Sri Lanka, or anywhere else in the world, but the standard of care in these circumstances meets the medical need.
Food Supplies
We were informed that each person was getting 1,900 Kcal of food daily. This comes in the form of rice, lentils, flour, milk and oil. Efforts are being made by the authorities to increase the calorific intake to 2,100 Kcal as per WFP‟s requirement. From a medical point of view, there are a large number of cases who appeared malnourished. I believe they may have been malnourished prior to coming into the IDP camps and they would certainly require more than 2,100 calo-ries to alleviate themselves out of this state. From my observation and understanding with regards to dietary intake, perhaps nutri-tional supplements and a higher-protein diet could be provided.
Water/Sanitation/Hygiene
There was no visible rationing of water although there were queues at some hydrants. There were people washing themselves in the open. We were informed that UNICEF supplies 50 million litres of water daily for use at the camps. In addition, there are also tanks that supply water to the camps. Drinking water is purified from these sources. Of serious concern was sanitation. It was obvious that toilets were insufficient. This, I foresee may become a problem over time, if not adequately addressed, especially with diseases transmitted by the oral fecal route. This may also increase flies‟ related illnesses. In addition, an increase in the incidences of malaria, typhoid and dys-entery could occur. I observed that some of the IDPs walked bare-foot and the other common footwear was open sandals. De-worming, if not already carried out as a procedure, should not be precluded. This may help in the preventive care in the general wellbeing and health of the IDPs. Pest control and fogging activities, if not already carried out, would be a deterrent to many potentially fatal diseases.
Education
I was surprised that there were properly demarcated classrooms based on age in each of the Camps. The children at the school ap-peared in clean clothes with books in hand. We visited the classes, spoke to the teachers and students, and there was a group prepar-ing for their A-Level exams in December 2009. They had their revi-sion papers, past question and answers with them. However, the Year 5 students who were preparing to sit for their exams at year-end, had not received their revision papers. Brigadier Perera was disappointed and said he would look into the matter personally. There was a class where the teacher was absent and that seemed to be a common problem.
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Figure 8: Mr Chandran talking to the children during school time |
Conclusion
Overall, it was a great eye opener for all of us. Thanks to all parties concerned that made this trip possible. Personally, the conditions were far better from what I was expecting to see and experience. Do they need help? Most certainly…. Anyone wanting to offer help in anyway may contact me at drvc1@yahoo.com anytime. Person-ally, I feel that the following items/services is beneficial for the IDPs: Financial aid; Food supplements; Footwear; Umbrellas; Worm treat-ment; Volunteers - To help at the hospitals, to teach at the schools, to listen and counsel and to assist with the resettlement plan.
Contact Details
Dr W Shermal Perera - Email: mmd239@hotmail.com
Dr Veronica Shanti Chelliah - Email: drvc1@yahoo.com
I G Chandran - Email: igcvc@streamyx.com
Mailing Address: 11-0-9, Jalan 3/109F, Danau Business Centre,
Taman Danau Desa, 58100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +603-79878903 Fax: +603-79878901
