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 

Foreign Aid & Sri Lanka's  Military Expenditure

Sri Lanka: Recapturing Missed Opportunities
World Bank Report - June 2000

The British Refugee Council, Sri Lanka Monitor, reported in August 2000:

"In a June report titled Sri Lanka: Recapturing missed opportunities, The World Bank says that Sri Lanka�s future economic and social development will depend not merely on maintaining sound macroeconomic management, but more importantly on the country�s ability to resolve the continuing conflict.

The conflict has reduced Sri Lanka�s economic growth and the most obvious direct cost is in terms of defence expenditures, which increased from 1.3% of GDP in 1980 to 4-6% over recent years. Some of the other direct costs are government expenditures on relief, damaged infrastructure and military expenditure by the LTTE.

There are many invisible costs, of which most important is the crowding-out of public investment due to the large defence outlays. This has had adverse impacts on both domestic and foreign investment and the island�s long-term growth prospects. Other indirect costs include foregone tourist arrivals, tightening of the labour market for certain categories of population, disruptions in economic activity, infrastructure bottlenecks and reduction in social welfare due to the tight security system.

The World Bank further says 60,000 have lost their lives in the protracted conflict, 700,000 have been repeatedly displaced and half a million persons are part of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora. The conflict has taken the lives of many political leaders and long-term impacts are worst on children in the north-east. Around 400,000 children are displaced in the region, with a large proportion suffering from serious psychological trauma. ...

The concerns of the World Bank seem to have had no effect. The Sri Lankan government tabled supplementary estimates in Parliament on 9 August for an additional Rs 28 billion ($360million) for defence. The total expenditure for defence for the year 2000, excluding many hidden expenditures, stands at a staggering Rs 80.43 billion ($1.3 billion), nearly 8% of GDP."