Open Letter to President Mahinda Rajapakse to stop the expulsion of
Tamils from Colombo

Honorable Mahinda Rajapakse,
President of Sri Lanka

On receiving reports of the expulsion of Tamils from various
locations in Colombo this morning, June 7 2007, members of our
organizations visited the Wellawatte, Pettah and Peliyagoda areas and
spoke to various persons who had been affected by the process and the
police in the area. This move is directly attributed to the statement
made by the IGP on the 1st of June, claiming that Tamil people cannot
remain in Colombo without a valid reason. On May 31 Tamils from the
North and East residing in lodges in Pettah were forced to leave, as
lodge owners were reportedly instructed by the police to not to
shelter people from the North and East who had no “valid reasons” for
being in Colombo.

According to the information we have received, in an operation that
commenced in the early hours of the morning, police and army officers
visited various lodges occupied predominantly by Tamils in Colombo
and forcibly removed Tamils from these guesthouses. In several
instances, eyewitnesses reported that these were not from the local
police stations.

Hundreds of Tamils from the Northern and Eastern Provinces, who had
been staying in Colombo for a range of reasons were forcibly loaded
onto buses and taken to Peliyagoda. A Police Officer at the
Peliyagoda Police reported that at least 8 buses with approximately
50 people in a bus left Peliyagoda. Later today, we heard that the
IGP had clarified to the party leaders meeting in the parliament that
6 buses had left for Vavuniya, 1 bus to Batticaloa and 1 bus to
Trincomalee. At 8.30am in the morning, an officer at the Wellawatte
Police reported that 3 buses with approximately 60 people left for
Trincomalee and that they would be sent to Jaffna by ship. Later on
in the day, the Wellawatte Police reported a figure of 83. However,
as of now, there is no confirmation of the numbers of people who were
put on the buses, nor of their names.

Many of the lodge managers, and remaining inmates, complained to us
that people were given less than half an hour to pack all their
belongings and board the CTB buses that were parked outside these
lodges. They were also not told their exact destination, only that
the return to their homes was being 'arranged'.

The criteria for their expulsion seemed to be determined arbitrarily
by the police and army. Even in some cases where lodgers were able to
explain their presence in Colombo to establish their bona fides, they
were told that Tamils who were not permanent residents of Colombo had
no right to be in Colombo and had to leave. According to a senior
official at the Wellawatte Police, the criteria for determining
return was: those who wished to return but did not have the funds to
do so; those who had no rationale for remaining in Colombo; and those
who said they were remaining in Colombo out of fear.

The Police claimed that they were simply assisting Tamils return to
their home towns, and that they had come to know about these desires
during checking carried out. The reports from residents, owners and
staff of lodges, eye witnesses to the expulsion however are in
complete contrast to these accounts. People were forced to leave,
even those who were in Colombo for health reasons and were not fit to
travel.

While we are full cognizant of the current security situation and the
need to maintain close surveillance of the city and its environs, in
terms of the human rights principles that guide us in our work as
human rights defenders, we are convinced that the above process is
NOT capable of guaranteeing security and rather creates further
polarization between the different ethnic communities that share this
island, and heightens the sense of marginalization and alienation of
Tamil people of this country.

We reaffirm the principle enshrined in the Constitution of Sri Lanka
guarantees all Sri Lankans the right to choose their own residence
(temporary or permanent), and freedom of movement and maintain that
what has taken place in Colombo today is a flagrant violation of this
principle, and a disgrace to humanity.

We call on you, as our head of State, to take all steps available to
call an immediate halt to this practice, and to offer facilities of
return to Colombo to anyone who has been forcibly removed from
Colombo in this process.

Sincerely yours,

Center for Human Rights and Development (CHRD)
Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA)
Free Media Movement (FMM)
INFORM Human Rights Documentation Center (INFORM)
Institute of Human Rights (IHR)
International Movement against All forms of Racial Discrimination
(IMADR)
Law & Society Trust (LST)
Rights Now (RN)

7th June 2007