{"id":114975,"date":"2021-06-07T16:14:52","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T23:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=114975"},"modified":"2021-06-07T16:14:52","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T23:14:52","slug":"an-open-letter-to-honorable-members-of-the-house-foreign-relations-committee-and-members-of-the-united-states-senate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/06\/07\/an-open-letter-to-honorable-members-of-the-house-foreign-relations-committee-and-members-of-the-united-states-senate\/","title":{"rendered":"An Open letter to Honorable Members of the House Foreign Relations Committee, and Members of the United States Senate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ms. Chandra Fernando <\/em>Educational Consultant, USA<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

I\nwrite to you today as a US citizen of Sri Lankan descent, a teacher trainer,\nchild advocate, and an advocate for peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. Ever\nsince the devastation of the Asian Tsunami,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nusually spend several weeks in Sri Lanka in January and February of each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since\nthe war ended, I have participated in efforts towards reconciliation through my\nrole as an educational consultant, teacher trainer and peacemaker. Since 2009,\nwhen the 26 year -old conflict ended, I focused my attention on reconciliation\nefforts through several private organizations and friends in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First,\nI visited a rehabilitation center for 200 former child combatants and\nparticipated in several educational and recreational activities with them. My\nfirst visit was not long after the war ended. I visited these children ages 12\nto 16 with a group of teachers who worked with them every week day afternoon.\nAt that time, I observed their sad and untrusting demeanor and witnessed their\nphysical and mental trauma. It was heartbreaking to listen to their stories of\nabduction, molestation and oppression by the LTTE. This was a heart wrenching\nexperience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From\nthe first time I visited these children, I was struck by the kindness and the nurturing\nshown to these children by the staff of the Rehabilitation Center. Most military\nstaff who worked with them <\/p>\n\n\n\n

did\nnot wear uniforms so they could make the children feel comfortable. The\nCommander of the rehabilitation center although in uniform, was so kind to\nthese children that they called him Appa\u201d which in the Tamil language means, Father\u201d.\nMen and women who cared for them took great care to make the children\ncomfortable both physically and mentally. It was a long road to recovery; but\nwhen I went back a year later, I was stunned by the success of this\nrehabilitation program. In my research on the plight of child soldiers in international\nconflicts, I had never come across such an amazing and effective undertaking in\nsuch a short period of time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nwanted to focus on this venture to put a very important and positive light on\nthe handling of a very significant burden of any war. Children are the worst\naffected in any armed conflict. The recruitment of young children as soldiers\nis a brutal and dastardly act. As an American, and humanitarian, I am conscious\nof the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. Although the United States has\nnot ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child, it is still a signatory\nto it. I am sure you will agree this act of barbarism is totally unacceptable\nin civilized societies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nam bringing this up at this time because on several occasions, the United\nStates has humiliated Sri Lanka by sponsoring resolutions on human rights\nviolations, and not once did the US Government<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  mention\nthe positive measures undertaken on the ground. Not once did these resolutions recognize\nimportant child protection initiatives undertaken by the Sri Lankan Government.\nAs an eye- witness to some of these measures on my visits to the North in the\npast several years, I am disappointed at the way we in the US have acted\ntowards a nation that has finally put a stop to the daily violence by the LTTE.\nThe pro-LTTE diaspora may have billions to lobby congress but they have the\nblood of innocent children on their hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe past couple of years, I have been involved with other children\u2019s projects\ndesigned to promote reconciliation efforts in Sri Lanka. We have had joint\neducational and social projects between the children of the North and South\nwhich have resulted in many heartwarming exchanges between the Tamil and\nSinhalese children. Many groups in Sri Lanka have activated wonderful\nopportunities for reconciliation. These efforts by both the government and\nprivate organizations need to be recognized and encouraged. The US needs to\nlisten to those people who want a united Sri Lanka. It is time to recognize\nTigers in Sheep\u2019s clothing; the Pro-LTTE Diaspora does not have a plan for a united\nSri Lanka. They have economic interests in keeping a conflict going between the\ntwo communities. The pro-LTTE diaspora are creating a wedge between the local communities\nfor their own benefit. However, there is a large silent majority of the\ndiaspora and the Tamil citizens in Sri Lanka who do not agree with their ideas\nand tactics.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nthe goal of some Western powers is to divide the country along ethnic lines,\nthis will certainly happen. What the UNHRC rand US esolutions have achieved\nindirectly up to now is the creation of distrust in the Sri Lankan community.\nThe Pro-LTTE Diaspora has been emboldened by the results of the biased\nresolutions and they are doing their utmost to destroy a sovereign state and\nits gentle people. Most of the pro-LTTE diaspora have not stepped foot on Sri\nLankan soil during or after the end of the conflict. We, who have regularly\nvisited and worked with the people of the North have a very different view of\nthings on the ground. Using doctored-material, these divisive individuals have\nspread false information about the people of Sri Lanka to members of Congress\nand to the international community, who in turn have fallen for it Hook, Line\nand Sinker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka has made\ntremendous strides since the successful end of its war against terrorism in May\n2009. Since the end of the conflict, Sri Lanka has:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Resettled\n 300,000 people who were displaced by the conflict;<\/li>
  • Invested\n $1 billion annually on new infrastructure to help support livelihoods and\n the economy, especially in conflict-affected areas;<\/li>
  • Rehabilitated\n over 1,000 former LTTE child soldiers and re-united them with their\n families;<\/li>
  • Given\n amnesty and job and educational training to 12,000 former LTTE terrorists\n who have returned to civil society;<\/li>
  • Held\n Presidential, Parliamentary and Regional elections\n in formally terrorist controlled areas;<\/li>
  • Lifted\n conflict-era emergency regulations that were in place for 26 years;<\/li>
  • Have\n begun to adopt the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and\n Reconciliation Commission. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                I hope you will consider the view of\nthose of us who have no affiliation with the Government       of Sri Lanka, no connection to any political party in Sri\nLanka, and no hidden agenda. As a teacher,\npeace advocate and one who seeks peace for ALL children of Sri Lanka and\nbeyond, I    respectfully ask you to\nconsider these few facts I have noted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ms. Chandra Fernando<\/em>
    Educational Consultant, USA<\/em>
    Member, Peace and Social Justice Committee,<\/em>
    The American Montessori Society<\/em>
    (Author, A Little Book of Peace in Sinhala, Tamil and English)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Ms. Chandra Fernando Educational Consultant, USA I write to you today as a US citizen of Sri Lankan descent, a teacher trainer, child advocate, and an advocate for peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. Ever since the devastation of the Asian Tsunami, I usually spend several weeks in Sri Lanka in January and February of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114975\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}