The Genocide of Sri Lanka

Sharuka Sivanandam
Jul 19, 2021
4 min read

Are you aware that Sri Lanka is one of the countries in the world with the highest rates of human disappearances? This country has over 60,000 - 100,000 individuals missing since the 1980s, and Tamil people are still fighting for their liberation to this day (1). The social issue pertaining to the political representation of Tamils is ongoing in our current society. Even today, many Tamils still experience individuals trying to destroy and erase the long-standing history and culture of our generations. As individuals attempt to heal from the impacts of the Sri Lankan Civil War, the nation still reveals new systematic issues from the history of ethnic strife under international laws.

The Historical Origins of the Conflict

The historical impact of the Sri Lankan Civil War made many minority Tamils experience discrimination, marginalization and genocide in many social and political fields. Prior to the Sri Lankan Civil War, the minority Tamil group was already struggling to exist and be accepted throughout history. This was seen in Sri Lanka’s colonial history, which revealed the roots of the ethnic conflict between the Tamils and Sinhalese that contributed to the eruption of the civil war. Ever since Sri Lanka gained its independence in 1948 from the British, the minority Tamil group felt marginalized and repressed from the majority Sinhalese group (2). The mentality of the Sinhalese group was to control the Tamils from progressing in society in which they implemented laws and policies to deny citizenship and rights to the Tamil community (3). Further, the declaration of the language, Sinhala only instead of English in 1956 increased tensions between the two ethnic groups where Sinhalese individuals sought to eliminate Tamils from various economic opportunities and expose them to Sinhalese (2). The initial struggles and diminishing of the Tamil ethnic group were the foundations of provoking the ethnic conflict to a violent state.

The Eruption of the Civil War

The Sri Lankan Civil War comprises 25 years of conflict and over 70,000 deaths that sprouted from the ongoing segregation on the island (5). Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, peaceful Tamil protests did not bring any justice to the community, so young Tamils abandoned peaceful methods to pursue other ones (6). The period of 1970-1977 only increased the tensions between the groups, which consisted of government policies that were restrictive and discriminatory towards Tamils (4). This resulted in Tamil politicians and youths creating and joining organizations to advocate for a separate Tamil state. One of the memorable groups was the LTTE, who sought to accomplish justice and their political goal of creating a separate country, Tamil Eelam (5).

The war officially began in July 1983 when numerous ethnic riots and victims arose with targets being mainly Tamils in Colombo (6). Throughout the period of the war, the majority Sinhalese people were violently persecuting against the Tamils due to religious and ethnic differences. This conflict erupted into significant hardships and deaths for many individuals, which left many Tamils fleeing to another state and many Tamil women in a more vulnerable and misogyny state. The battle came to a destructive end in May 2009 with many casualties and a demolished LTTE side from the government deploying military power to destroy the organization.

The Current State of Tamils

The long-standing ethnic tensions in Sri Lanka still persist today as many Tamils are still struggling to find justice and freedom. The aftermath of the war gave rise to violations of international human rights and advocations for charging the Sri Lankan government with genocide under international law. It was first raised by an international voice in December 2009 where Human Rights Watch pressured the international community to raise an investigation into war crimes on the issue of accountability (7). Soon after, other experts in international law also stressed for an examination in the legal case of the genocide with evidence based on the nature and extent of violence performed by the Sri Lankan government forces (7). However, certain individuals resisted the legal action against the military labour force by attempting to support and protect the majority Sinhalese ethnic group from their war crimes.

Currently, many political and academic institutions still fail to recognize the genocide of Tamils and the empowerment of Tamils towards addressing the injustices of the war. Both Mullivaikkal and Maaveerar Naal mark the remembrance of the deaths of militants and civilians from the war. These significant days are when commemorations in terms of rituals and processions are performed in May and November. For many years now, Tamils around the world have been honouring and protesting through hunger strikes and demonstrations for the acknowledgement and accountability of Tamils’ disappearances. The international governments’ continuous failure to support and address Tamil people’s concerns has only increased the protest towards the accountability of war crimes. Even currently, the Tamil community is still opposing the lack of political will from the Sri Lankan government in addressing the disappearances of many Tamil individuals and the injustices behind the Sri Lankan Civil War.

Endnotes

Amnesty International. “Everything You Need to Know about Enforced Disappearances and Human Rights.” Accessed June 17, 2021. https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/disappearances/.
Ganguly, Sumit. “Ending the Sri Lankan Civil War.” Daedalus 147, no. 1 (2018): 78-89. Accessed June 22, 2021. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48563408.
Deane, Tameshnie. “Historical and Political Background to the Erosion of the Rule of Law and Human Rights during Sri Lanka’s Civil War and the Way Forward.” Small Wars & Insurgencies 27, (2016): 974-975. doi:10.1080/09592318.2016.1234115.
DeVotta, Neil. “The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Lost Quest for Separatism in Sri Lanka.” Asian Survey 49, no. 6 (2009): 1022-1023. doi:10.1525/as.2009.49.6.1021.
Nieto, Alejandro Sanchez. “A War of Attrition: Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers,” Small Wars & Insurgencies 19, (December 2008): 577-579. doi:10.1080/09592310802462398
Singer, R. Marshall. “Sri Lanka’s Tamil-Sinhalese Ethnic Conflict: Alternative Solutions,” Asian Survey 32, no. 2 (August 1992): 712-713. doi:10.2307/2645364.
Wikipedia. “Sri Lankan Civil War.” Accessed June 24, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Civil_Wa