Sri Lankan Diaspora in USA briefs Congress

Counters criticism of Sri Lanka with evidence of peace and progress

Sri Lanka-American Day in Congress includes more than 100 meetings to discuss peace, redevelopment and Economic progress

Sri Lankan-American voters from 25 states report that Sri Lanka’s reconciliation is on track, Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission is bringing the country together.

Rep. Robert Aderholt speaks to Sri Lankan-Americans and Congressional staff members during a reception for Sri Lankan-American Day on Capitol Hill

Nearly 100 Sri-Lankan Americans from throughout the United States travelled to Capitol Hill Monday to brief Congress on reconciliation and post-conflict progress in Sri Lanka as part of Sri Lankan-American Day on Capitol Hill.

The meetings with member of Congress and their staff were organised by the Sri Lankan community, with the help of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington, D.C. The sessions focused on economic and social progress in Sri Lanka two years after it successfully ended its war against terrorism.

Members of the Sri Lankan Diaspora in the US met with one-fifth of the Congress in just one day, pressing for a broader understanding of Sri Lanka’s decades-long conflict and its post-conflict reconciliation efforts.

Rep. Robert Aderholt, Co-Chair of the Sri Lanka Congressional Caucus, said that he had visited Sri Lanka following the devastation caused by the 2004 tsunami.

“I don’t think I would recognise Sri Lanka today given the progress that has taken place since then,” he said. “It is clearly a very dynamic country where a lot has changed for the better.”

Aderholt and Rep. Steve Chabot, Chairman of the House subcommittee on the Middle East and South East Asia, and Congressional staff members also visited with the Diaspora during a luncheon reception in the US House of Representatives Rayburn Office Building.

Monday’s event was the first-ever Sri Lankan-American Day on Capitol Hill. The large turnout demonstrated the support among the Sri Lankans in America for Sri Lanka’s post-conflict programmes, lasting peace and reconciliation efforts.

The US and Sri Lanka, Asia’s oldest democracy, have had diplomatic relations for 63 years – since Sri Lanka gained independence from Britain in 1948 – and trade relations for more than 200 years.

Sri Lanka experienced 26 years of conflict when the terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) began a campaign of terror against the government and people of Sri Lanka. The conflict ended in May 2009 with the LTTE’s defeat.

Diaspora members told members of Congress that Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission is examining events of the conflict, with a broad mandate to pursue rights violations. They argued that an international investigation of the conflict would be a set-back for reconciliation among Sri Lankans.

The US Agency for International Development has a number of projects underway in Sri Lanka to aid post-conflict development, and the U.S. has provided de-mining aid to Sri Lanka in its effort to remove an estimated 1.2 million LTTE landmines in the North.

Sri Lankan-Americans meet with Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuirya at the Sri Lankan residence, Washington, DC, to plan a series of 13 June 2011 meetings with members of Congress

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the US Jaliya Wickramasuriya hosted a 12 June reception at the Ambassador’s official residence for the visiting Diaspora members, as well as the Capitol Hill luncheon.

The Congressional meetings gave the Diaspora the chance to register objections to false accusations against Sri Lanka, including those contained in a resolution entered by a freshman member of the House of Representatives.

Constituents told members of Congress and their staffs that the defeat of the LTTE meant that rights were restored to all 21 million Sri Lankans who suffered under LTTE terrorism. There has not been a single death due to terrorism since May 2009.

“By ending terrorism in May 2009, Sri Lanka restored a basic human right to all Sri Lankans,” Ambassador Wickramasuriya told the Capitol Hill luncheon guests. “That human right is the freedom from fear – one of the four important freedoms that President Roosevelt spoke about in January 1941. All of us are concerned about human rights. But this basic human right is vital to any society.”

The Diaspora, consisting of Tamils, Sinhalese, Muslims and others, represented 25 states. They included business owners, professional and academics. Many are already active in their communities and make a significant contribution to the US economy, but have never come to Washington to represent Sri Lanka’s interests in Congress.

Since ending the LTTE conflict, Sri Lanka has experienced a brisk economic growth, with 8.2 per cent GDP in 2010. Tourism also bounced back, with a 50 percent increase in tourist arrivals in 2010 compared to 2009, and equally impressive gains in the first quarter of 2011. Unemployment remains low and per capita income is increasing.

Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya addresses members of Congress, Sri Lankan-Americans and congressional staff members

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Government has focused extensive redevelopment and reconstruction efforts on areas most affected by the conflict in Northern Sri Lanka. Work there includes repairs to roads and bridges, water and irrigation systems, hospitals, clinics and schools, new home construction and a massive effort to remove an estimated 1.2 million LTTE landmines.

Sri Lanka has resettled most of the 300,000 people who were displaced by the fighting. It has also rehabilitated about 1,000 LTTE child soldiers, reuniting them with their families, and it has granted amnesty to more than 11,000 LTTE combatants. About half that number has been returned to civil society after job-training and educational tutoring, with the rest to be released over the coming months.

A number of other countries have lent aid and expertise to Sri Lanka since its conflict against terrorism ended in May 2009, and the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank have extended loan facilities to help fund the redevelopment of Northern Sri Lanka, where much of the fighting took place. Six nations and two non-government organisations are assisting de-mining work.

Sri Lankan community members who took part in the Capitol Hill meetings said that members of Congress and their staffs were aware of Sri Lanka’s defeat of terrorism and its reconciliation efforts.

But they reported that some in Congress were not aware that Sri Lanka has established the LLRC, which has taken public testimony and statements from hundreds of witnesses.

The United States, Ambassador Wickramasuriya noted, supports such internal fact-finding efforts as an important step in post-conflict reconciliation.

“The Sri Lankan people feel strongly that they must resolve these issues among themselves,” the ambassador said. “An outside investigation could halt reconciliation.”