The east is far from being the model of democratisation and post-conflict reconstruction that the government claims and offers important lessons for the north.

“The twin humanitarian crises in Sri Lanka’s north – more than 100,000 civilians trapped in fighting between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and over 60,000 housed in militarised camps – require urgent and coordinated international action”, says Robert Templer, Crisis Group’s Asia Program Director. “When the fighting concludes, government calls for large-scale international humanitarian reconstruction and development assistance in the north will soon grow louder”.

Before committing any additional reconstruction and development assistance, donors must insist that the basic conditions for sustainable development are guaranteed and that the government has taken tangible steps towards democratic political transformation in both the north and the east. Otherwise, there is too great a risk that international funds will ultimately be wasted or possibly even prolong conflict.

In the Eastern Province, violence, political instability and the government’s reluctance to devolve power to the provincial administrations are undermining ambitious development plans. Rather than treating the situation as a typical post-conflict environment, donors need to ensure additional monitoring and coordinated political advocacy. They should insist on a written agreement on basic principles with the government, to be signed during a high-level donor development forum and prior to the commencement of any new projects.

The Sri Lankan government should provide the basic level of human security necessary to successful development work by ending impunity for human rights violations and placing its counter-insurgency campaign under strict legal accountability. It must also empower provincial councils to address development and security needs.

“The provision of humanitarian aid and reconstruction by itself is not enough”, warns Donald Steinberg, Crisis Group Deputy President for Policy. “The problems the people of the north and the east have been enduring for decades are ultimately political in nature. They require a careful, democratic and inclusive political response”.

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Long Live my Homeland