As we struggle with the downturn, tens of thousands of innocent civilians are battling for their lives amidst the advancing Sri Lankan force and retreating Tamil Tiger fighters in south Asia.
I have read a lot about the civil war in Sri Lanka, where lives are slain ignorantly on a daily bases at the moment. The issue in Sri Lanka is an ethnic one and quite sensitive, however this does not cover-up the fact that civilian deaths are mostly caused by Sri Lankan army shelling.
Tamil civilians are now target points for a ruthless army peopled by rival Sinhalese. The areas declared by the United Nations as ‘safe zones’ are intermittently bombed by rampaging government soldiers. Again, the UN has shown how incapacitated it is to stop unnecessary killings of non-combatants during a war or orgy of violence.
The civil war in Sri Lanka has gone on since the 1970s between the government in Colombo run by the majority Sinhala tribe and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas. The LTTE took up arms demanding a separate state and also claim to be fighting in defence of their people who are marginalised.
It will make people believe in international law if the UN Security Council enforces a ceasefire between the warring factions. This is also a litmus test for the Obama administration in view of the role China is playing by bolstering the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in Colombo.
The United States should come to the rescue of the Tamils if India cannot step in as an unbiased arbitrator. The politics of the region seem to have tied India’s hands as a regional power irrespective of the fact that it is gunning for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
As Ireland is pruning its capital expenditure for the 2009 fiscal year, the policy makers should extend Irish benevolence to the needy people of Tamil Eelam. Their plight in the northern part of Sri Lanka beckons for mercy and assistance. There is nothing more important to humanity than saving life; thousands have died within weeks while more innocent ones are on the line.
Should the international community act only when dying tears and the blood of the slain have placed their curse on mother earth?
Ukachukwu Okorie is originally from Nigeria. Visit his website at www.olumouka.com
