Tamils are responsible for their present plight. It is the failure of the Tamil leadership that has driven the Tamils to this dead-end...!!!

No separate state, engage the government

Des Browne, the British Envoy to Sri Lanka, told the Tamil diaspora in Australia that, after the comprehensive military victory, the only option available is to engage the government in working out a solution for the Tamils.
In the open dialogue with the Tamil representatives he dismissed outright any possibility of the international community supporting a separate state. He told the Tamil diaspora that big powers like Russia and China will be sympathetic to Sri Lanka as they have their own separatist problems.

This blunt message from Britain has dealt a hard blow at the current moves of the radical section of the Tamil diaspora to set up a Tamil Transnational government in exile.

He met the representatives of the Tamil diaspora at Westminster House, the residence of the British High Commissioner to Australia in Canberra on Saturday morning.

Browne emphasized that the only leverage available to the West is the GSP+ but even that economic leverage should be handled with care. He added that he preferred to use it as a threat rather than enforcing it as it would affect the Sri Lankan people.

During the discussions, the pro-Tiger wing complained that the government is not treating the IDPs properly. They said that the IDPs re-settled in their new homes were not provided proper facilities to recover, in response, Browne suggested they have been demanding an early release and the latest information to him was that nearly 100,000 have been re-settled with the relatives and carers. After that is done by the Sri Lankan government it is rather difficult to press for better conditions for the IDPs in their new homes.

Browne indicated that the West was keen on getting a reasonable response from the Tamil diaspora for the way forward. He said that he was prepared to be the facilitator to negotiate with the Sri Lankan government on the reasonable formula of the Tamil diaspora. He emphasized that a separate state is not on the cards.

Browne ruled out any possibility of going down the track of pursuing action on issues of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The pro-LTTE group raised the issue of dealing with these issues by an international court as in Kosovo. Browne argued that external intervention in Kosovo has not solved the problem. It has to be done internally and they favour the internal mechanism to an external intervention.

The pro-LTTE wing emphasized that the Tamils will not get a fair deal now that the government has defeated the LTTE. Browne’s response was that they have to come down to the middle as they cannot expect to get all what they wanted under the present circumstances.

Dr. Noel Nadesan, the Editor of The Uthayam, the leading Tamil community newspaper in Australia, representing the moderate wing, said that the Tamils are responsible for their present plight. It is the failure of the Tamil leadership that has driven the Tamils to this dead-end.

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