SRI LANKA: CONDITIONS FOR "UP-COUNTRY" TAMILS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 001045

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS AND PM
MCC FOR D NASSIRY AND E BURKE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: CONDITIONS FOR "UP-COUNTRY" TAMILS
DEPLORABLE, NOT IMPROVING

Classified By: Acting DCM Michael DeTar, for reasons 1.4(b, d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: There are approximately 1.5 million Tamils,
mostly of Indian origin and often referred to as "Up-Country"
Tamils, working on tea, rubber and coconut plantations in Sri
Lanka. Plantation exports account for more than 50 percent
of Sri Lanka's gross domestic product, but the Government of
Sri Lanka (GSL) spends less than three percent of its annual
budget on Up-Country Tamil issues. The Up-Country People's
Front (UPF) and the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) claim to
represent the interests of Up-Country Tamils, but have not
been able to effectuate significant changes for Sri Lanka's
poorest citizens. Most Up-COuntry Tamils live on plantations
in row-houses built decades ago and in desperate need of
repair. Child labor is rampant, working conditions are poor,
and wages are meager. Health care facilities on the
plantations are often non-existent, and schools are
dilapidated, overcrowded, and lack teachers. There is a
significant and growing population of young Tamil men who are
unable to find employment on the plantation or in neighboring
towns. Local officials complain of a resulting increase in
petty crime and report that, as an alternative to
unemployment, some Up-Country Tamil youth have joined the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Up-Country Tamils
had previously remained aloof from the ethnic conflict, but
as conditions worsen and unemployment rises, this may be
changing. If that happens, the Government will have failed
to capitalize on an opportunity to win the hearts and minds
of a peaceful population anxious to be integrated into
mainstream Sri Lankan society. END SUMMARY.

A BRIEF HISTORY
--------------


2. (SBU) There are approximately 1.5 million Tamils working
on tea, rubber and coconut plantations in Sri Lanka. They
are often referred to as Up-Country Tamils, Estate Tamils,
Plantation Tamils and Tamils of Recent Indian Origin.
Originally brought to Sri Lanka from India by the British
during colonial rule, Up-Country Tamils were willing to work
under conditions that Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamils were
unwilling to accept. After independence in 1948, the GSL
negotiated with the Government of India (GOI) over which
country should extend citizenship to Up-Country Tamils.
Eventually, the GOI agreed to take four of every seven Tamils
back to India in several "installments."


3. (SBU) The remaining Up-Country Tamils were allowed to
become Sri Lankan citizens, but only if they registered
roperly with the GSL within a prescribed period oftime.
Thinking that they could negotiate a better deal that would
allow more Up-Country Tamils to become Sri Lankan citizens
rather than return to India, Up-Country Tamil leaders urged
people to boycott the registration deadline. When it became
apparent that the GSL would not provide a more beneficial
deal, Up-Country Tamil leaders reversed course, advocating
registration, but it was too late for thousands who were
unable to complete the Sinhalese-only registration forms in
time to obtain citizenship. As a result, approximately
300,000 Up-Country Tamils became stateless. Under successive
GSL administrations, Up-Country Tamils were eventually able
to obtain Sri Lankan citizenship, with the last group
registering in 2003. However, there are still thousands of
Up-Country Tamils who have not successfully navigated the
procedure to obtain an identification card, and as a result,
are unable to vote, travel outside of their home district or
obtain basic GSL services.


4. (SBU) Currently, there are 23 corporations managing more

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than 4,000 plantations. The GSL owns 49 percent of the stock
in plantation corporations holding 47 percent of plantation
lands. Fifty-three percent of plantations are referred to as
"small holdings" owned and operated almost exclusively by
Sinhalese living in the South. Individual ownership of
plantation land by Up-Country Tamils is extremely rare.
Plantation exports account for more than 50 percent of Sri
Lanka's gross domestic product, but the GSL spends less than
three percent of its annual budget on Up-Country Tamil issues.

INEFFECTIVE POLITICAL REPRESENTATION
--------------


5. (SBU) Two political parties claim to represent the
interests of Up-Country Tamils -- the Up-Country People's
Front (UPF),with two members of Parliament (MPs) and the
Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC),with five MPs. Both parties
are members of the governing coalition. The CWC holds two
ministerial positions -- Minister of Livestock Development
and Estate Infrastructure Arumugan Thondaman and Deputy
Minister of Estate Development Muthu Sivalingham. Each party
also operates a trade union. Workers pay 35 rupees (31
cents) a month to belong to the UPF and 65 rupees (59 cents)
a month for membership in the CWC.


6. (C) The UPF and CWC point to Up-Country Tamil
citizenship as a concrete example of their efforts to improve
the lives of their constituents, although both claim the
other party did little to win the citizenship victory. Some,
however, have criticized Up-Country Tamil politicians for
failing to do more to improve the living and working
conditions on plantations. Minister Thondaman is, himself,
an estate owner with vast holdings. Likewise, Deputy
Minister Sivalingham is a board member and shareholder of
multiple plantation corporations. Because of their position
as plantation owners, critics have charged that they cannot
effectively represent a group of people's whose financial
interests are directly opposite to their own.

MISERABLE LIVING CONDITIONS
--------------


7. (SBU) Most Up-Country Tamils work on tea plantations and
live in rows of houses 12 units long and two deep called
"line homes." They are made of wood walls and corrugated
steel roofs, with concrete floors. Homes vary in size but
most consist of two small rooms approximately 6 feet wide,
deep and high. One room typically has a small concrete
hearth where women build a fire using sticks they have
gathered in their free time to cook rice and vegetables.
That room may also double as a bedroom if there are too many
family members living together in one line home. The
plantations are in the central mountainous area of Sri Lanka,
often more than 4,000 feet in elevation, where the
temperature can drop as low as 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Most
homes are not equipped with heat and most do not have
electricity. Communal bathroom facilities are located
outside the line homes.


8. (C) Most line homes were built decades ago and are in
desperate need of repair. On July 20 and 22, Poloff met with
plantation owners in Nuwara Eliya and Hatton who acknowledged
that the condition of line homes is sub-standard but asserted
that despite huge plantation profits, repairing line homes is
the GSL's responsibility. Likewise, plantation owners,
including Deputy Minister Sivalingham, assert that other
quality of life issues like road conditions on the
plantations, electricity to the line homes, medical
facilities, waste and sanitation issues and educational

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opportunities are all the Government's responsibility.

TOUGH WORK CONDITIONS
--------------


9. (SBU) Officially, Up-Country Tamils are not allowed to
begin working on the plantation until they are twenty years
old. However, child labor is rampant. Member of Parliament
Mano Ganesan, himself a Tamil of recent Indian origin, urged
Poloff on July 21 to help the international community focus
on illegal child labor in addition to illegal child soldiers.
Most women work until age 55, and men retire at 60. After
retirement, they are allowed to live in their line house
until they die, a recently won right. They are expected to
work from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., but in peak seasons the
hours may be much longer. Regardless of the number of hours
worked, tea pickers must bag 16 kilograms of tea leaves to be
paid for a full day's work. Additionally, pickers must work
at least 25 days a month to be eligible for the full daily
rate of less than two dollars after deductions.

INADEQUATE MEDICAL AND EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES
--------------


10. (C) Health care facilities on the plantations are often
non-existent. Pregnant women are taken to either Nuwara
Eliya Hospital or Base Hospital to give birth, but infant
mortality is high. Additionally, the Ministry of Health
provides 500 rupees ($4.50) to women willing to undergo
voluntary sterilization after their second child. The Estate
Medical Attendant (EMA) is involved in persuading women to
accept sterilization and is overseen by Norwegian NGO Human
Development Trust. Some Up-Country Tamil women at Pedro
Plantation told Poloff on July 21 that they were sterilized
without their consent after their third child. Additionally,
several men at Pedro Plantation complained of forced
vasectomies.


11. (SBU) Up-Country Tamil schools are dilapidated,
overcrowded and lack teachers. The GSL recently approved
funds for an additional 3,000 teachers in Nuwara Eliya
district, with both the UPF and CWC claiming the
accomplishment as their own. However, even with the influx
of teachers, the average classroom still houses 46 students,
with some holding almost twice as many. The GSL-mandated
maximum number of students per classroom is 25. The
facilities in Nuwara Eliya schools are also often
sub-standard. Toilet facilities are usually lacking,
particularly impacting female students, and books are scarce.
Additionally, transportation to schools does not operate if
rains cause flooding and create sinkholes in the dirt streets.

RAMPANT UNEMPLOYMENT CREATES VULNERABLE YOUTH
--------------


12. (C) Because plantations need five times as many women
to pick tea leaves as men to work in the processing plants,
there is a significant and growing population of young Tamil
men who are unable to find employment on the plantation or in
neighboring towns. Nuwara Eliya city officials complain of a
resulting increase in petty criminal activities. UPF
Parliamentarian Radakrishnan told us that, as an alternative
to unemployment, approximately 350 Up-Country Tamil youth
have joined the LTTE. Politicians fear that as the war
intensifies in the north, Tiger recruiters will seek to
persuade more Nuwara Eliya males to join the cause,
capitalizing on their dissatisfaction with living and working
conditions.


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13. (C) COMMENT: Up-Country Tamils have a reputation for
being extremely hard-working and have not previously taken
sides in the ethnic conflict. Indeed, for decades Up-Country
Tamils have viewed traditional Sri Lankan Tamils as rivals
rather than allies. However, that view seems to be shifting,
with more Up-Country Tamils speaking in fatalistic terms
about having no option but to seek a better life through
joining the armed conflict. If that happens, the Government
will have failed to capitalize on an opportunity to win the
hearts and minds of a population anxious to be integrated
into mainstream Sri Lankan society.
MOORE