Over 25 years of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka has caused more than 70,000 deaths along with massive destruction of property and livelihoods. Tamil refugees are fleeing systematic patterns of attack by both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, as well as paramilitary forces on both sides. Widespread human rights abuses are characteristic of all these armed groups. Enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, child recruitment, torture, extortion, and harassment are common occurrences. Arbitrary arrests, detentions and restrictions laid on freedom of expression, association, and assembly are also suffered by innocent Sri Lankan citizens, especially Tamils.

OfERR believes it is essential to raise awareness of human rights issues among the refugees living in India. During 2006, in conjunction with an independent group of activists from the Alternative Law Forum based in Bangalore, OfERR facilitated the collection of 92 case studies from newly arrived Ceylon refugees. Interviews conducted with these refugees revealed a lack of awareness of the concept of human rights. Most did not recognise themselves as victims of human rights violations, nor did they realise their entitlement to remedy and repatriation.

OfERR’s New Dawn training project, funded by KiOS (a Finnish NGO), aims to contribute to a better understanding of human rights abuses among the refugee community. Moreover, refugees should learn to actively work for the prevention of rights violations and to seek redress in the future. The project is also preparing documents which systematically record the ongoing human rights abuses suffered by Tamils in Sri Lanka. It is hoped that this work will pressure the violators and improve the future situation. OfERR’s experience of such problems and close relationship with those affected allows it to monitor rights violations more effectively than any international agency.

Project Objectives

• Strengthen the capacity of OfERR to promote human rights, document abuses efficiently and provide education on rights issues

• Increase refugees’ awareness of their rights and their ability to prevent and respond to violations

• Increase documentation and public awareness of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and advocate an improvement of this situation

Project Outcomes

• Trainees understand the violence and restrictions in Sri Lanka in the context of human rights

• Trainees have used their understanding to take on the role of trainers, thus spreading the programme throughout the refugee community

OfERR can successfully implement the New Dawn project since its members are themselves part of the refugee community in Tamil Nadu, bound together by common experiences and aspirations. OfERR’s unique position within the community has resulted in 25 years of close contact with the affected people, and an understanding of the strengths and needs of these people. OfERR’s existence and continuing commitment is strongly linked to its struggle to protect the human rights of the Ceylon refugees, achieved and sustained through democratic processes.