Ethnic Warfare in Sri Lanka and the UN Crisis

William Clarance

Description

This book explains the complex origins and evolution of Sri Lanka's civil war and the resulting massive civilian displacement. It is an account of frontline conditions during a critical period and an overview of the alternating warfare and ceasefires during the last fifteen years.



William Clarance analyses the scope for protecting civilians in a war zone and its implications for UN policy. He argues that Washington's bullying of the UN ironically proves the points it seeks to demolish: the indispensibility of UN legitimacy and the professionalism of its field agencies.



He urges the need to adopt a more actively engaged role to protect civilians in intrastate conflict, the better to address global problems such as the outflow of refugees and asylum seekers it triggers and the seeds of international terrorism it sows.
Preface

I INTRODUCTION

1.UN Crisis, Dangers and Opportunity

2. Protection in a Civil War

3. Roots of Militancy, Seeds of Terrorism

4. Ironies of a Peacemaking Protectorate

5. UNRWA and UNHCR Protective Practice

II BETWEEN WAR AND PEACE

December 1989 - June 1990

6. Hopes for Peace, Fears of War

7. Flux in Geneva, Forebodings on the Ground

III EELAM WAR II ERUPTS

June - October1990

8. National Implosion : International Indifference

9. War Zone and the LTTE

10. Engagement in Mannar, Controversy in Geneva

IV PROTECTIVE NEUTRAL ENGAGEMENT

October 1990 - December 1991

11.Rising Tension on Mannar Island

12.Food is Neutral

13.Protection Crises

14. 'Open Relief Centres are Working'

V PROTECTION and the UN in 2006

15.In and Between Sri Lankan Warfare

16.Innovative Concepts

17.Controversial Questions

18. Improvisation-Intervention-Engagement

Notes

Index

Sujets

• Political Science
• Histoire
• Theory
• History
• Sri Lanka

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 décembre 2006
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781849643092
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 8 Mo

Extrait

Clarance_00_prelims.qxd 01/11/2006 10:04 Page iii
Ethnic Warfare in Sri Lanka
and the UN Crisis
William Clarance
Pluto Press
London • Ann Arbor, MI
Vijitha Yapa Publications
Sri LankaClarance_00_prelims.qxd 01/11/2006 10:04 Page iv
First published 2007 by Pluto Press
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA
and 839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106
www.plutobooks.com
Copyright © William Clarance 2007
The right of William Clarance to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Hardback
ISBN-13 978 0 7453 2526 2
ISBN-10 0 7453 2526 2
Paperback
ISBN-13 978 0 7453 2525 5
ISBN-10 0 7453 2525 4
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for
Sri Lanka Edition published by
Vijitha Yapa Publications
Unity Plaza, 2 Galle Road, Colombo 4, Sri Lanka
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
e-mail: [e-mail]
www.vijithayapa.com.srilankanbooks.com
Paperback
ISBN-13 9789551266547
ISBN-10 955-1266-54-4
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Curran Publishing Services, Norwich
Printed and bound in the European Union by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham and
Eastbourne, EnglandClarance_00_prelims.qxd 01/11/2006 10:04 Page v
To the victims of civil wars,
who deserve better protection
from the international community
– and to those fieldworkers
who strive to provide it.Clarance_00_prelims.qxd 01/11/2006 10:04 Page vii
Contents
List of maps xiii
List of plates xiv
List of acronyms and non-English terms xv
Acknowledgements xviii
Preface xix
Part I
Introduction 1
1. UN crisis, dangers and opportunity 3
Protective neutral engagement 3
UN crisis 4
Dangers and opportunity 6
Civil/ethnic warfare 6
Refugees and asylum seekers 8
Terrorism 10
Professional challenges 12
2. International protection in a civil war 13
Incident in the jungle 13
Mannar 18
An innovative protection role 19
3. Roots of militancy, seeds of terrorism 25
Jaffna Tamils 25
Transitional conundrums pre-independence 28
Westernized elite and elected representative politics 28
Donoughmore Constitution 29
The Second World War and the Soulbury Constitution 30
Colonial culpability? 30
Unheeded storm signals post-independence 35
Deprivation of Indian Tamils 1948–49 35
Tamil Federal Party 35
Sinhalese populist pressures 35
S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and the “Sinhala only”
Act of 1956 36
[ vii ]Clarance_00_prelims.qxd 01/11/2006 10:04 Page viii
CONTENTS
Bandaranaike–Chelvanyakam Pact 1957 36
Assassination of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike 37
Republican Constitution of 1972 38
Radicalization of Tamil politics 38
Seeds of terrorism 39
Militant groups 41
Caste and conflict 43
July 1983 44
Eelam wars and peace initiatives 46
4. Ironies of a peacemaking protectorate 47
A flawed accord 47
IPKF as peacekeepers 55
UNHCR and repatriation monitoring 58
5. UNRWA and UNHCR protective practice 62WA 63
UNHCR 67
Separate evolution of statutory and extra-statutory
competence 68
Evolution of monitoring in voluntary repatriation
operations 70
International protection in special operations 70
UNHCR Executive Committee Conclusions 71
Part II
Between war and peace: December 1989 to June 1990 75
6. Hopes for peace, fears of war: December 1989 to
June 1990 77
“Liberated Mannar” 77
Bush warfare in UN vehicles 79
Cross-currents in Colombo 82
National Day 85
Travelling hopefully in the north 86
Countdown in Trinco 88
7. Flux in Geneva, forebodings on the ground 91
Short honeymoon 91
Nilaveli, 28–30 April 1990 92
UNHCR: time to go or need to stay? 93
[ viii ]Clarance_00_prelims.qxd 01/11/2006 10:04 Page ix
CONTENTS
Forebodings 96
Flashpoint 101
Failure of a promising peace initiative 104
Part III
Eelam War II erupts: June to October 1990 109
8. National implosion, international indifference:
June 1990 111
Fighting spreads, Tamils flee 111
Relief efforts 116
Geneva opts out 118
Damage in Trinco 121
9. The war zone and the LTTE 124
Mannar war zone 124
Safe haven on Mannar island? 126
Displacement dynamics 132
LTTE encounters 134
“Baby brigade” in the jungle 134
A patrol on Mannar island 135
Area leadership in Mannar 135
Mission to Jaffna 136
10. Engagement in Mannar, controversy in Geneva 142
Innovative engagement 142
Mines 149
Monsoon logistics 150
Expulsion of Muslims 151
Army takes Mannar island 153
Resignation of High Commissioner 155
Challenge and controversy 156
Funding 157
Geopolitics 158
The mandate 158
Part IV
Protective neutral engagement: October 1990 to
December 1991 161
11. Rising tension on Mannar island 163
[ix]Clarance_00_prelims.qxd 01/11/2006 10:04 Page x
CONTENTS
A “gentlemen’s agreement” 165
Voluntary repatriation and human rights 167
Air Force shoot-up 169
12. Food is neutral 176
Convoy rationale 176
Logistics 178
Security 182
Non-food items 184
13. Protection crises 185
Madhu 185
Pesalai 196
14. “Open relief centres are working” 198
Issues 198
State of the programme 198
ORCs’ effectiveness 200
Repatriation into conflict? 201
Talaimannar 202
Survival 203
Sri Lankan governance in conflict 203
The LTTE 206
Geopolitics 207
Servitude et grandeur humanitaire 210
Part V
Protection and the UN in 2006 213
15. In and between Sri Lankan warfare 215
Eelam Wars II and III 215ar II 1992–94 215
Eelam War III 1995–2002 216
Ceasefires and peace processes 219
November 1994 to April 1995 219
February 2002 220
Protection practice evolves 222
Repatriation of refugees, return of IDPs 222
Open relief centres 224
Government welfare centres 225
Food convoys 225
[x]Clarance_00_prelims.qxd 01/11/2006 10:04 Page xi
CONTENTS
Safe passage 226
UN Guiding Principles 226
Eelam War IV? 227
16. Innovative concepts 230
Protection at source 230
Protective neutral engagement 231
Self-regulating refuge and open relief centres 232
Humanitarian neutrality under the UN flag 233
Absence of military 235
Protection monitoring agreement 236
Back-to-back agreements with combatants 236
Small-scale protection with broad impact 237
17. Controversial questions 240
Asylum: threat or viable alternative? 240
UNHCR 241
Beyond the mandate? 241
Protection in institutional culture 243
Displacement 245
Responsibility for IDPs 245
Primary criterion for humanitarian response 246
“Talking to terrorists”? 247
A humanitarian viewpoint 247
Governmental positions 248
Security: safety of fieldworkers? 249
Agency relations 252
Overlap with the ICRC 252
Non-governmental organizations 254
Humanitarian diplomacy? 255
Sri Lankan Army, central Government officials and
diplomats 255
Humanitarianism versus human rights? 257
“Bottom-up”? 257
18. Improvisation – intervention – engagement 259
Improvisation: UNHCR “special operations” 259
Military intervention: northern Iraq and Bosnia 260
Northern Iraq 261
Bosnia 263
Neutral engagement in Tajikistan 266
[xi]Clarance_00_prelims.qxd 01/11/2006 10:04 Page xii
CONTENTS
Intermittent hostilities 266
UN protection response 266
“Responsibility to protect” in Darfur? 268
Origins 268
The African Union 269
“Protection by presence” 269
UN “responsibility to protect” 271
Operationalizing protection for IDPs? 271
Notes 276
Sources and reading 285
Index 287
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Maps
1. Sri Lanka, showing north and east xxii
2. The Vanni 110
3. Jafffna peninsula 214
[ xiii ]Clarance_00_prelims.qxd 01/11/2006 10:04 Page xiv
Plates
1. Refugees leaving for India xxiii
2. Madhu open relief centre with UNHCR staff xxiii
3. Kachcheri officials, clergy and UNHCR xxiv
4. IDPs moving into Madhu (I) xxiv
5. IDPs moving into Madhu (II) xxv
6. Some farmers came with livestock xxv
7. IDPs in Madhu xxvi
8. Getting lorries through the jungle xxvi
9. LTTE patrol on Mannar island xxvii
10. Bomb damage in Jaffna (I) xxvii
11. Bomb damage in Jaffna (II) xxviii
12. Muslims on Mannar island prior to explusion xxviii
13. Muslims during expulsion from the north xxix
14. Binod, Danilo, Aloysius Coonghe and Pipat xxix
15. Pipat at Pesalai open relief centre xxx
16. Cricket at Pesalai – an alternative to war games xxx
17. IPKF memorial in Mannar xxxi
18. LTTE memorial in a Jaffna village xxxi
[ xiv ]Clarance_00_prelims.qxd 22/01/2007 15:05 Page xv
Acronyms and non-English
terms
Acronyms
AU African Union
AMIS African Union Mission in Sudan
BSA Bosnian Serb Army
CGES Commissioner General for Essential Services
CIS Commonwealth of Independent States
CPA Comprehensive Peace Agreement in southern Sudan
DFID Department For International Development (UK)
EEC European Economic Community
EHED Eastern Human Economic Development
EOKA Ethniki Organosi Kyprion Agoniston
EPRLF Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front
EROS Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students
GA Government Agent
IASC Inter-Agency Steering Committee
ICES International Centre for Ethnic Studies (in Colombo)
ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross
IDP internally displaced person
IPKF Indian Peace Keeping Force
IRA Irish Republican Army
IRO International Refugee Organization
ISGA Interim Self Government Administration
JHU Jathika Hela Urumaya
JOC Joint Operations Command
JVP Janatha Vimukti Peramuna
LTTE Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
MSF Médecins Sans Frontières
NGO Non-governmental Organization
NORAD Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
OCHA UN Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian
Affairs
ORC Open Relief Centre
PFLT Popular Front for the Liberation of the Tamils
[xv]Clarance_00_prelims.qxd 01/11/2006 10:04 Page xvi
ACRONYMS
PLO Palestine Liberation Organization
PLOTE People’s Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam
RAO Refugee Affairs Officer (UN)
RPG rocket-propelled grenade
SCF Save the Children Fund (UK)
SLAS Sri Lankan Administrative Service
SLFP Sri Lanka Freedom Party
SLMM Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission
SPLM/A Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and Army
SRSG Special Representative of the Secretary General
TDDF Trincomalee Distric