Three years after the official end of the war in Sri Lanka protesters again took the streets in front of the European Parliament in Brussels. About 40 people participated in the action, including activists from Tamil Solidarity in Belgium. We distributed a leaflet that included a solidarity message by Paul Murphy MEP.
In the past three years the government of Sri Lanka has only increased its budget for the army and its repressive actions against any opposition or resistance. The international community of big business welcomed the war victory of Rajapakse and continued its support afterward, even if the UN was recently obliged to vote a vague resolution recognising that there were war crimes.
The protest at the European Parliament was important to show that the slaughter of Tamil people is not forgotten and that the fight for justice for the relatives and friends of the at least 40,000 who were killed in the final stage of the war is still continuing. In that fight we can’t put hope in institutions like the EU.
Why would the European Union fight to give Tamil youth in faraway Sri Lanka a decent future if at the same time they are depriving the majority of the Greek and other European populations of a decent living standard and a future? European president Herman Van Rompuy made his position clear when at the end of 2010 he attended a concert organised by the Sri Lankan embassy in Brussels as a guest of honour. Van Rompuy said on the occasions that relations between Europe and Sri Lanka are very good. Not a word about the war crimes, while evidence of the brutal slaughter in early 2009 was available.
We can’t put our trust in the international community of the elite that is continuing to support the dictatorship of Rajapakse. We must build our support in the other international community, amongst the 99% of the population that is hit by the crisis and the austerity measures.
Tamil Solidarity in Belgium will continue to participate in the activities against the war crimes, demanding a real independent international investigation. We also build links with the Belgian working class. Tamil activists went to picket lines during the general strike of 30 January. There was a Tamil delegation on the may day demonstration in Antwerp. The good response we got there shows where we can find allies in our joint fight for justice and a future.
