|
|
Tamil Eelam Struggle for Freedom
Global Tamil Forum
www.globaltamilforum.org
"Global Tamil Forum exists to harness the skills and the
knowledge of the members of the forum, well-wishers and significant
others including mainstream decision makers in the international
governments, institutions and organisations with the aim of alleviating
the sufferings of the Tamil community in the Island of Sri Lanka and to
further their right to self determination within a democratic frame work
under pinned by international law, its covenants and conventions. "
 TamilNet Report , 23 July 2009
"A number of grass root Tamil organisations across the world on Thursday
launched an initiative in forming Global Tamil Forum (GTF)" said Suren
Surendran of British Tamil Forum, which is one of the constituent
organisations of the Forum. The Tamil diaspora is united in restoring the
sovereignty of Eezham Tamils in their homeland and bring the perpetrators of
crimes against humanity to justice, Mr. Surendran told TamilNet.
The Forum
will work for the benefit of Eelam Tamils based on the principles of the
Vaddukkoddai Resolution that recognises Self-Determination of Eezham Tamils
in creating an independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam in the traditional
homeland of Eezham Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka, said Dr. Sampavi
Parimalanathan, a diaspora activist in Australia.
A statement issued by the GTF said: "The immediate goal of this Forum will
be to address the plight of the Tamils interned in the camps and have their
resettlement in their homes and villages expedited by generating
international pressure upon the Government of Sri Lanka. The Forum will also
explore avenues to bring the perpetrators of crimes against humanity to
justice."
Press Release by Global Tamil Forum, 23 July 2009
The Global Tamil Diaspora has united to form the Global Tamil Forum
(GTF), in response to the large scale massacre of Tamil civilians,
internment of more than 300,000 in camps reminiscent of Nazi Germany and
continuing inhumane treatment of these detainees by the Government of Sri
Lanka. It is a need of the times and the first of its kind worldwide for the
Tamils to speak with one voice.
This Forum will evolve as an independent, international organisation which
adheres to the principles of democracy and non-violence and derives its
strength from existing grassroots organisations of the Tamil Diaspora.
Working in solidarity with the Tamils in Eelam and other communities in Sri
Lanka, this Forum will strive to restore Tamil People�s right to
self-determination and democratic self rule in their traditional homeland in
the island of Sri Lanka.
The immediate goal of this Forum will be to address the plight of the Tamils
interned in the Sri Lanka military run concentration camps, and have their
resettlement in their homes and villages expedited by generating
international pressure upon the Government of Sri Lanka. The Forum will also
explore avenues to bring the perpetrators of crimes against humanity to
justice.
Tamil organisations from all five continents, including the United States
Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC), are represented in this Forum and
have joined hands to further this mission.
உலகத் தமிழர் பேரவை
உலகெங்கிலும் புலம் பெயர்ந்து வாழும் தமிழர்கள் அனைவரும் ஒன்றிணைந்ததின்
விளைவாக "உலகத் தமிழர் பேரவை" உதயமாகின்றது. தமிழர் மீது நடாத்தப்பட்ட பாரிய
இனப்படுகொலைக்கு நீதி கேட்கும்முகமாகவும் , ஜேர்மனிய நாசி வதைமுகாங்களிற்கு
ஒப்பான வதை முகாங்களில் வாடும் எமது உறவுகளை மீட்கவும் உலகில் வாழும் அனைத்து
தமிழர்களும் ஒன்றிணைந்து ஒரே குரலில் ஒலிக்க வேண்டியது காலத்தின் தேவையாகும்.
சர்வதேசமயமான சுயாதீனமான, ஜனநாயகப்பண்புகளோடு அகிம்சாவழியில் இப்பேரவையின்
கருத்துருவாக்கம் அமைந்துள்ளது. உலகெங்கிலும் வாழும் தமிழர்களை
பிரதிநிதித்துவப்படுத்தும் அமைப்புக்களை ஒன்றினைப்பதன் மூலம் இப்பேரவையானது
வலுப்பெறவுள்ளது.
இலங்கைதீவினில் தமிழர்களது பாரம்பரிய பூமியாகிய தமிழீழத்தில் சுயநிர்ணய
உரிமையுடன் கூடிய ஜனநாயக ஆட்சியை மீட்டேடுப்பதற்கு, உலகத் தமிழர் பேரவயானது
ஈழத்தில் வாழும் தமிழர்களோடும், இலங்கையில் வாழும் மற்றைய சமூகத்தினரோடும்
இணைந்து செயற்படும்.
உலகத் தமிழர் பேரவையின் உடனடி இலக்குகளாக வதைமுகாங்களில் வாடும் எமது உறவுகள்
தாயக பூமியில் இயல்பு நிலை வாழ்க்கைக்கு திருப்புவதற்கு பாடுபடுவதும்,
இனப்படுகொலையின் குற்றவாளிகளை நீதியின் முன் நிறுத்துவதற்கு உழைப்பதுவுமாகும்.
ஐந்து கண்டத்திலும் வாழும் தமிழ் மக்களை பிரதிநிதித்துவப்படுத்தும்
அமைப்புக்கள் இப்பேரவயில் அங்கம் வகித்து எமது இலட்சியத்தை நோக்கி முன்
நகர்த்துவர்.
Notes to Editors:
Global Tamil Forum exists to harness the skills and the knowledge of the
members of the forum, well-wishers and significant others including
mainstream decision makers in the international governments, institutions
and organisations with the aim of alleviating the sufferings of the Tamil
community in the Island of Sri Lanka and to further their right to self
determination within a democratic frame work under pinned by international
law, its covenants and conventions. The forum was set-up in 2009 with the
support of many International Tamil community organisations. For more
information and our mission and vision statements please contact
[email protected]
and/or visit:
www.globaltamilforum.org
|
Tamil diaspora unites to surmount challenges
-
Suren Surendiran, 23 July 2009
Suren Surendiran is a senior member of the British Tamils Forum. The
opinions expressed are his own.�
�Colombo should make public its lists of the interned and allow the Red
Cross access to all places of detention and all aspects of the �screening�
process conducted by the military and intelligence agencies.
The international community has a clear role to play in convincing the Sri
Lankan government to take these steps.� - Robert Templer, Asia program
Director, International Crisis Group, 21 July 2009 In a damming article in
the International Herald Tribune, Robert Templer of the International Crisis
Group, called for the Tamil doctors who remain detained, having renounced
the statements they made during the final stages of the conflict, to be
released stating �This farce should end: They should be freed�.
As the Government of Sri Lanka continues to imprison over 300,000 Tamil
civilians in barbed-wire camps, with limited access for aid agencies and
international media, the international community seems content with the
military �guided tours� of these camps orchestrated for the benefit of
foreign diplomats and allow the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence to boast
claims that �the welfare centres were the best in the world�.
Despite the Sri Lankan government�s rigorous crackdown on voices of dissent
and efforts to restrict independent reports, the few that have emerged
signal a very different image of what lies behind the barbed wire. There are
credible reports from The Times UK that the Sri Lankan authorities are
building permanent structures within the camps suggesting long term
settlement, despite �promises� to resettle 80 per cent of the detainees by
the end of the year. Aid agencies have been reluctant to be outspoken of the
conditions in the camps in fear that their limited assistance to the
detainees could be jeopardized.
It is however astonishing to see that the vast number of warnings by
humanitarian agencies have gone largely unnoticed, with the international
community hailing to Sri Lankan government�s calls for financial assistance
by way of IMF loan to aid the development of a �liberated� country.
What has become evidently clear is the lack of political will from the Sri
Lankan regime to address the political aspirations of the Tamil people for
the first 30 years since independence that fuelled a further 30 years of
armed conflict. While the international community was clear in its support
for a �military defeat� as a means to achieve sustainable peace, they failed
to ensure the Rajapakse regime would safeguard even their basic rights to
freedom, security and respect.
The conceptual launch on Thursday of the Global Tamil Forum comes at a time
when the Tamil Diaspora is no longer ready to mourn the sufferings of their
brethren, nor wait for world justice to prevail. The symbolic announcement
made by a unified body of Diaspora organisations marks a nation set to
embark as a formidable force for their voiceless brethren in Sri Lanka, with
a vision to �oppose the entire edifice of oppression and discrimination
through peaceful means and to champion the rights of Tamil and other
communities who have been unjustly deprived of their rights and silenced�.
Today poignantly marks the 26th anniversary of the
1983 riot in Sri Lanka,
when state sponsored anti-Tamil pogroms resulted in over 3,000 dead and over
150,000 internally displaced. Tamils all over the world recall that since
independence, history has only repeated itself, with
Tamils being the victims to successive
Sinhala regimes intoxicated on hegemony.
The Tamil Diaspora has long voiced the cries from the homeland and warned of
impending tragedy which could not thwart the subsequent loss of unimaginable
proportions. The callousness of the Sri Lankan regime supported by a large
section of the Sinhala masses has affirmed the
Tamil People�s right
to self-determination and democratic self rule as a necessity to
safeguard survival.
The Tamil Diaspora has united. United to restore sovereignty for Tamils in
their homeland and bring the perpetrators of crimes against humanity to
justice. "
|
|
Tamils convene in Paris for Global mobilisation
Global Tamil Forum Media Press Release also
in PDF and
in Tamil
5 September 2009
Tamil Diaspora representatives from 5 continents assembled in Paris, France
between 29 and 31 August to hold the first convention of the Global Tamil Forum (GTF). The dire situation faced
by the Tamil people in Sri Lanka was discussed and action programs were deliberated to address their immediate needs.
Over the 3 days of the conference GTF constitution was also adopted unanimously by the country
representatives. Dr. Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam (PhD Cornell University) was elected as the President of GTF. The immediate goal of the Global Tamil Forum is to unite the Tamil Diaspora
throughout the world while working with the international community to get the 300,000 Tamil detainees currently
imprisoned against their will in the internment camps in the North of the island released. GTF will also vigorously
pursue and bring to justice the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
�People are dying in large numbers due to communicable diseases in these
overcrowded camps and children are suffering from malnutrition. Those interned in the camps are also being
subjected to torture, rape, disappearance, extra-judicial killing and numerous other human rights violations while the
Tamils outside the camps dare not speak out on behalf of these people for fear of being abducted, tortured and
murdered themselves.� said a participant from Australia.
Another participant from Germany stated that, �The magnitude of this
humanitarian crisis warrants an enormous and co-ordinated response from international, local humanitarian aid agencies
and the Tamil Diaspora similar to that during 2004 Tsunami. Yet the Sri Lankan state continues to violate
international humanitarian law and limit access to the internment camps by humanitarian agencies and the ICRC. Family
members and independent media are also denied access because the Government fears its war crimes will be
exposed. This has made Tamils the world over realise the need to use the strength of our unity to protect our
people.�
GTF, while adhering to the principles of democracy and non-violence,
endeavours to be inclusive in bringing together Tamil Diaspora of all walks of
life under their respective country organisations to take the tasks in hand
forward. GTF will seek to engage with all communities in Sri Lanka and the
international community to achieve its goals.
Media Contact: Dr. Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam
Personal Tel: +1 917 512 2992 Email:
[email protected]
Notes to Editors: Global Tamil Forum exists to harness the skills and the knowledge of the members
of the forum, well-wishers and significant others including mainstream decision makers in the international governments,
institutions and organisations with the aim of alleviating the sufferings of the Tamil community in the Island of Sri Lanka and
to further their right to self determination within a democratic frame work under pinned by international law, its covenants and
conventions. The forum was set-up in 2009 with the support of many International Tamil community organisations. For more
information and our mission and vision statements please contact [email protected] and/or visit:
www.globaltamilforum.org
|
|
