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“Every time you think a solution has been reached in Sri Lanka,

you are proved wrong. The situation gets worse.

It is this blighted nation’s curse that what seems to be the light at the

end of the tunnel, is usually the headlamp of an oncoming train.”

(A. Pratap; Island of Blood, p. 82.)

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Sri Lanka

A Country in Conflict

Master Thesis by:

Mette Marie Nøhr and Peter Nøhr

Development and International Relations

Aalborg University, June 2008

We wish to thank our supervisor, Professor Mammo Muchie for his support.

We also thank the department secretary, Jytte Kongstad, for her assistance throughout our time at AAU.

Furthermore, we want to thank our parents for all their support; including the provision of food, shelter and general encouragement along the way.

Author’s Note

In October 2004 Mette Nøhr, as part of the Master’s Programme, joined the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Sri Lanka as an intern.

Initially she worked on a project, which supported the peace process by re-integrating ex-combatants from the Sri Lankan army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) into civilian life. However, in December 2004, after tsunami waves had killed over 30,000 people and left half a million homeless on the island she joined IOM’s Emergency Response Programme instead.

Until July 2007 she was based in Colombo, supporting tsunami relief- and recovery projects but also working increasingly on conflict-related emergency activities as the cease fire agreement (CFA) began to crumple and violence intensified in late 2006 and 2007, causing mass displacement of people in the North and East. The job required close working relationships with Sri Lankans from all ethnicities and religions as well as regular field visits to both tsunami and conflict-affected districts, including LTTE controlled areas.

Peter Nøhr joined the American NGO, Shelter for Life in April 2004, undertaking a four-month internship as Project Officer on their Sri Lanka Programme, which focused on constructing transitional shelters for tsunami-displaced families.

Based in the eastern district of Ampara he lived with a Singhalese, Buddhist family while working primarily with Hindu- and Muslim Tamils and thus, experienced first hand the multicultural diversity in Eastern Sri Lanka; the frictions within the local communities and the anxiety, mistrust and abhorrence between the different groups – but also the genuine wish for peace by many civilians.

Sri Lanka is an island of natural beauty, boasting an amazing cultural heritage and hospitable people of different backgrounds. During our time in the country we experienced palm-fringed beaches, ancient ruins, lobster-barbeques, elephants, jazz festivals, charity balls, religious celebrations, luxurious five-star hotels and idyllic fishing villages.

We also witnessed extreme poverty, human tragedies, despair – and the visible signs of armed conflict. We worked in unstable environments with check-points and armed patrols and projects were regularly suspended or delayed due to security lockdowns, bombings, shelling, civilian displacement, fearful beneficiaries, road-blocks, air-raids and political uncertainty.

As we lived and worked in the country, our interest in understanding the conflict and its background grew. We have often questioned why a country with so much beauty and potential continues to serve as the battleground for a decade old war.

Our experiences in Sri Lanka have prompted the topic of this thesis.

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“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”

Mahatma Gandhi

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An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind

Mette Nøhr

2008-04-20

Private