Tamils - a Trans State Nation..

"To us all towns are one, all men our kin.
Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill
Man's pains and pains' relief are from within.
Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !."
- Tamil Poem in Purananuru, circa 500 B.C 

CONFLICT RESOLUTION
TAMIL EELAM - SRI LANKA

United States and United Kingdom Joint Statement
on the Humanitarian Situation in Sri Lanka

3 February 2009

See also

1.  Tokyo Co-Chairs Show Their Hand: Call  for LTTE to surrender to save Vanni civilians, 3 February 2009

2. Sinhala Sri Lanka's  Genocide of Eelam Tamils  - a Crime Against Humanity... - Nadesan Satyendra, 29 January 2009

"The question is being asked by some: why is the international community which was willing to arm Sri Lanka and to ban the LTTE, unwilling and/or unable  to prevent the genocide of Eelam Tamils?  Suffering is a great teacher and the Tamil people are being taught that for the governments of the so called IC, human rights and humanitarian law are but useful instruments to advance their political and strategic interests.  ....the international community will wait till Tamil resistance is sufficiently weakened or  annihilated before it attempts to intervene 'on humanitarian grounds' and in seeming response to 'world wide Tamil appeals'.  Meanwhile the IC will even welcome such world wide appeals by Tamils as that will pave the way (and establish useful contact points amongst the Tamil diaspora) for IC's eventual intervention with 'development aid' with the mantra of not conflict resolution but 'conflict transformation'. Give them cake when they ask for freedom from alien Sinhala rule. A conquered people should be grateful for whatever they can get - though there may not be not enough cake to go round.The Tamil people are being taught the truth of something which Subhas Chandra Bose said many years ago - Freedom is not given, it is taken..."  more

Full text of the statement issued by the U.S. Department of State U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman For Immediate Release February 3, 2009 2009/97 United States and United Kingdom Joint Statement on the Humanitarian Situation in Sri Lanka Following is the text of a joint statement on the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka issued today, February 3, 2009, by the United States and the United Kingdom, following the meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Foreign Secretary David Miliband at the Department of State in Washington, DC. Begin text: Earlier today at a meeting, Secretary Clinton and U.K. Foreign Secretary Miliband discussed their serious concern about deteriorating humanitarian situation in northern Sri Lanka caused by the ongoing hostilities. They affirmed their insistence on a political resolution to this longstanding conflict. The time to resume political discussions is now and we will continue to work with the Tokyo Co-Chairs, the Sri Lankan government, and the UN to facilitate such a process. Secretary Clinton and Foreign Secretary Miliband call on both the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to agree to a temporary no-fire period. Both sides need to allow civilians and wounded to leave the conflict area and to grant access for humanitarian agencies. We welcome today’s statement by the Tokyo Co-Chairs (Norway, Japan, US and EU) jointly expressing their great concern about the plight of thousands of internally displaced persons trapped by fighting in northern Sri Lanka. We join the Co-Chairs and call on the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka not to fire out of or into the safe zone established by the Government or in the vicinity of the PTK hospital (or any other medical structure), where more than 500 patients are receiving care and many hundreds more have sought refuge.  We also call on both sides to allow food and medical assistance to reach those trapped by fighting, cooperate with the ICRC to facilitate the evacuation of urgent medical cases, and ensure the safety of aid and medical workers. The LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka must respect the international law of armed conflict.