US Accused of Turning a Blind Eye on Sri Lanka's 'Back-Pedalling'

By Athula Vithanage

The Obama administration failing to apply pressure on Sri Lanka to honour pledges made at the UN for a fair and international war crimes process has been described by a leading US based policy think tank as shocking.

"At a time when truth and reconciliation is most vital, important international players like the United States are turning a blind eye to President Sirisena’s backpedalling," says Oakland Institute, releasing its latest report largely illustrating the plight of internally displaced (IDP) tens of thousands of Tamils in Sri Lanka's war torn north, seven years after the government declared an end to the war.

The report, 'Waiting to Return Home' quoting Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) says that an estimated 73,700 people were internally displaced in the Northern and Eastern Provinces in July 2015.

IDMC has also estimated that several tens of thousands among the 794,000 who are registered as having returned to their homes, have still not achieved a durable solution to their displacement.

All those displaced are barred from returning to their traditional lands by a 1,60,000 strong military made up of Sinhalese that occupies the north and the east by setting up High Security Zones (HSZ).