Kathmandu School of Law Review

P-ISSN : 2091-2110, E-ISSN : 2773-8159, DOI : 10.46985, Publisher : Kathmandu School of Law, Nepal
Annual flagship journal of Kathmandu School of Law, Nepal

Volume 3, Issue Special, May 2013
Articles

‘From the Frying Pan into the Fire’, IDPS in a State of Emergency: Sri Lankan Context

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  • Mahesha Jayawardana
Mahesha Jayawardana
General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Ratmalana
Bio

Published 2013-05-31

How to Cite

Jayawardana, M. (2013). ‘From the Frying Pan into the Fire’, IDPS in a State of Emergency: Sri Lankan Context. Kathmandu School of Law Review, 3(Special), 157–165. Retrieved from https://kslreview.org/index.php/kslr/article/view/1012

Abstract

With the closure of the last of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) welfare camps in the North-Central Province of Sri Lanka, the official records deem an end to a phenomenon that has been a reality for many Sri Lankans for many decades. Considering the furor that was caused by the confining of the IDPs to camps in the last phases of the war, this paper examines the flaws in the framing of the debate that grew into a national crisis and almost set the tone for another ethnic divide.

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References

  1. In an act of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in October 1990, the LTTE expelled the total population of some 75,000 Muslims from the Northern Province within 48 hours. They have ever since lived as IDPs in Puttalam.
  2. Most Sinhalese constitute ‘day and night IDPs’ who live in the border areas. This needs to be made clearer to the readers outside Sri Lanka.
  3. Hazel Lang & Anita Knudsen, ‘Protracted Conflict: Protection and challenges for Humanitarian Agencies’ Australian Research Council Briefing Paper 2008. <http://www.austcare.org.au/media/56973/arcsrilankabp-lowres.pdf> accessed 1 May 2013.
  4. ‘Sri Lanka: Growing Concern’ (IRIN Humanitarian News and Analysis) <http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84722> accessed 1 May 2013.
  5. Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, ‘National and Regional Laws and Policies on Internal Displacement Sri Lanka’ (Brookings Institute) <http://www.brookings.edu/ projects/idp/Laws-and-Policies/sri_lanka.aspx> accessed 1 May 2013.
  6. The 3 phases of displacement are: 1) Generating phase or pre-displacement; 2) Displaced phase and 3) Resettlement phase or post-displacement.
  7. Patricia Weiss Fagen, Refugees and IDPs after Conflict: Why they do not go home (Special Report, United States Institute of Peace 2011) ; The article presents the view that most national programs concerning return of IDPs frequently leave them without access to viable futures.
  8. Norwegian Refugee Council, Protracted Muslim IDPs from Jaffna in Puttalam and their Right to Choose a Durable Solution (2010); the changes in their livelihood practices and aspirations have been researched in the paper.
  9. KONUCH, Human Rights Violations under National Security Laws in Asian Countries (KONUCH) 85.
  10. Though the war has displaced people from all three communities, it is estimated that Tamils make up around 80 percent of all IDPs in Sri Lanka.
  11. Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services and the GIS Statistical Unit of the Ministry of Nation Building & Development published by the UNHCR and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.
  12. Charter of United Nations art 2(1).
  13. Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons and is currently the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide.
  14. The following texts both recognize the legal gap in protection of Internally Displaced persons when compared to the refugees: Kleine-Ahlbrandt, The Protection Gap in the International Protection of Internally Displaced Persons: the case of Rwanda (Institute Universite de Haute Etudes Internationales 1996); Erin Mooney, ‘Towards a Protection regime for internally displaced persons’ in Edward Newman and Joanne van Selm (eds), Refugees and Forced displacement-international security, Human Vulnerability, and the State (UN University Press 2003).
  15. Hall argues that at all time ‘the press performs a significant role as a social educator’ shaping both the salience and the valence of social and public policies for news consumers.
  16. Responsibility to protect is a set of principles based on the idea that sovereignty is not a privilege, but a responsibility. Of which one is that a State has a responsibility to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing and mass atrocities. ‘ICISS Report on The Responsibility to Protect’ (International Commissions on Interventions and State Sovereignty) <http://www.iciss.ca/pdf/Commission-Report.pdf> accessed 1 May 2013.
  17. UN Security Council’s Resolution 688 on Iraq was the first resolution where displacement and civilian repression were elevated to reasons for breaching state sovereignty.
  18. UN, Larger Freedom (United Nations 2005)
  19. ‘Substantive Issues arising in the implementation of the ICESCR’ Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2000) 24th session <http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/6b748989d76d2bb8c125699700500e17/$FILE/G0044704.pd> accessed 1 May 2013.
  20. Kofi A Annan, ‘We the Peoples: The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century’ (United Nations Official Document) <http://www.un.org/millennium/sg/report/full.htm> accessed 1 May 2013.