I therefore call on those governing Sri Lanka to put in place initiatives&strategies that ensure that all minority groups have equal access to choices

SRI LANKA AND TAMIL CONFLICT



2010-12-01


Ms VIRGINIA JUDGE (Strathfield—Minister for Fair Trading, Minister for the Arts) [1.39 p.m.]:
I speak in support of a small but prominent group of residents who live in my electorate but whose representation by number belies their contribution to my community in the electorate of Strathfield in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Tamils of Strathfield are solid citizens, noted for their commitment to education, a strong work ethic and devotion to family life, as well as to the greater community in which they live. I have observed that the Tamil community in my electorate applies these principles to their business and professional practice and to their enthusiastic participation in benevolent community organisations. They also work tirelessly to integrate refugees into our society by helping to meet their physical and emotional needs. I am advised that their community work includes recently raising money for research into breast cancer and actively supporting a young Tamil gymnast, Prashanth Selladurai, from my electorate to represent Australia in the Australian gymnastic team at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, where he made a major contribution to the efforts that I believe won the team a silver medal, and then at the Commonwealth Games recently in Delhi where he won two gold medals and bronze.

In the context of these contributions, it is with great sadness that I have learnt of the alleged war crimes perpetrated against these people in their homeland, Sri Lanka. Furthermore, I am advised that after languishing in camps in the wake of the most recent phase of the war in Sri Lanka during 2009, tens of thousands of Tamils in the northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka are still living without a permanent roof over their heads and with minimal access to health care, employment, education for their children or justice. I am advised that in recognition of substantial allegations of atrocities and war crimes against the Tamil people, the United Nations Secretary General has appointed a three member panel to advise him on accountability regarding these alleged violations of internationally recognised human rights. Both the president of the Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations, Dr Victor Rajakulendran, and the president of the Australian Tamil Congress, Dr Sam Pari, have conveyed to me the dismay and deep disappointment they have felt as a result of Australia's silence on this issue.

I am therefore calling on the Australian Government to support other governments, including Britain, the United States of America and France, in writing to the United Nations declaring support for an independent inquiry into: alleged war crimes committed particularly in the last phase of the war; the treatment of more than 11,000 Tamil youth detained be in accordance with the Geneva Convention; ending militarisation and restoring law and order of the civilian areas; resettling internally displaced people in their original place of residence and compensating them for the losses they have incurred; ending planned West Bank style settlements in the Tamil homeland for Sinhala people from the south, which I am advised is aimed at further weakening Tamil representation in their Parliament; and a political solution that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil people to be negotiated with the elected Tamil leadership and implemented so that true peace and reconciliation can be achieved in Sri Lanka.
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In a country where a minority people, deprived of their rights and persecuted for their beliefs after enduring a long and devastating civil war, asks us in the West for our support, it is neither good nor fair to withhold our support. But these are strange times and it seems sometimes we dare not say the obvious in our luckier country, that killing innocent people is wrong and that those involved in these alleged atrocities must be called to account and brought to justice. Let us do this for our friends in need, the Tamils of Sri Lanka.

I ask myself, and indeed I ask everyone in this Chamber today, if I was a cricketer and I was aware of the mounting evidence of atrocities and war crimes allegedly perpetrated by those currently governing Sri Lanka, would I not want to reflect on the message I sent to the public if I played against their representatives in their country without comment on the plight of the Tamils? At the end of the day none of us can ever say that we are just doing our job. Whether that job is in sport, industry, commerce or indeed politics, we are human beings first. We should not just be content to leave politics to politicians. Politics is indeed involved in every facet of human existence. It is therefore very much embedded in our relationships, associations and workplace.

I therefore call on those governing Sri Lanka to put in place initiatives and strategies that ensure that all minority groups have equal access to choices, equal access to opportunities in education, whether it be at the primary, secondary or tertiary level, equal access to employment, equal access to government services and justice, and equal access to representation in those particular bodies. I will be writing directly to the Prime Minister of Australia and to the Minister for Foreign Affairs to support this call on behalf of those that have brought this to my attention, particularly those living in the Homebush area in my community of Strathfield. In conclusion, in the words of the popular Tamil proverb, popular agitation leads to justice. I pray this be the case.


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