Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07COLOMBO787
2007-06-01 10:35:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:
SRI LANKA: TAMIL HOSTEL OWNERS TOLD TO EXPEL ALL
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C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000787
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
MCC FOR S GROFF, D TETER, D NASSIRY AND E BURKE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2017
TAGS: PGOV PTER PHUM MOPS PREL CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: TAMIL HOSTEL OWNERS TOLD TO EXPEL ALL
OCCUPANTS
REF: A. COLOMBO 753
B. COLOMBO 768
Classified By: A/DCM Michael DeTar for reasons 1.4(b,d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000787
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
MCC FOR S GROFF, D TETER, D NASSIRY AND E BURKE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2017
TAGS: PGOV PTER PHUM MOPS PREL CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: TAMIL HOSTEL OWNERS TOLD TO EXPEL ALL
OCCUPANTS
REF: A. COLOMBO 753
B. COLOMBO 768
Classified By: A/DCM Michael DeTar for reasons 1.4(b,d).
1. (C) At approximately 5:30 p.m. on May 31, a local
holiday, police in the central Colombo business district of
Pettah summoned more than 60 Tamil hostel owners and ordered
them to expel all occupants from their lodging that night.
The police warned that they would do so forcibly the next
morning if the hostel owners failed to comply. About two
hours later, Tamil member of Parliament and Deputy Minister
of Vocational Training P. Radhakrishnan called President
Rajapaksa and threatened to withdraw from the governing
coalition unless the order was rescinded. According to
Embassy interlocutors, the President promised to look into
the matter.
2. (C) On the morning of June 1, Defense Spokesman Kehaliya
Rambukwella gave a telephone interview to the media in which
he claimed that the order only amounted to a prohibition on
lodge owners accepting any new Tamil occupants. However, a
Tamil journalist told us that the original terms of the order
had not changed, but that the deadline was extended until
June 1 at noon. This deadline has now passed, and police
have as yet taken no action to expel occupants from the
hostels. We have reports that five Muslim-owned lodges have
voluntarily decided to comply. The situation in Pettah
remains tense and the outcome uncertain.
3. (C) COMMENT: After the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) detonated bombs in Pettah on May 24 (ref A) and in the
southern Colombo suburb of Ratmalana on May 29 (ref B),the
GSL seems intent on finding the perpetrators before they
strike again. The several hundred thousand Tamils who live
permanently in Colombo are subject to routine questioning and
searches at hundreds of checkpoints. In this case, the GSL
has apparently decided that the many Tamils staying
temporarily in Colombo pose too great a security risk, and
have therefore sought to "evacuate" them back to their homes
in the north and east, regardless of their purpose in coming
to the city. These tactics can only serve to alienate
further an already deeply suspicious minority population.
The Tamil community will certainly view this step an
overreaction, reinforcing the belief that the GSL sees Tamils
as second-class citizens. The howl of protest the order
elicited provided a reminder to the President that he depends
on some Tamil members of Parliament, along with other
minorities and political moderates, for his legislative
majority.
BLAKE
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
MCC FOR S GROFF, D TETER, D NASSIRY AND E BURKE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2017
TAGS: PGOV PTER PHUM MOPS PREL CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: TAMIL HOSTEL OWNERS TOLD TO EXPEL ALL
OCCUPANTS
REF: A. COLOMBO 753
B. COLOMBO 768
Classified By: A/DCM Michael DeTar for reasons 1.4(b,d).
1. (C) At approximately 5:30 p.m. on May 31, a local
holiday, police in the central Colombo business district of
Pettah summoned more than 60 Tamil hostel owners and ordered
them to expel all occupants from their lodging that night.
The police warned that they would do so forcibly the next
morning if the hostel owners failed to comply. About two
hours later, Tamil member of Parliament and Deputy Minister
of Vocational Training P. Radhakrishnan called President
Rajapaksa and threatened to withdraw from the governing
coalition unless the order was rescinded. According to
Embassy interlocutors, the President promised to look into
the matter.
2. (C) On the morning of June 1, Defense Spokesman Kehaliya
Rambukwella gave a telephone interview to the media in which
he claimed that the order only amounted to a prohibition on
lodge owners accepting any new Tamil occupants. However, a
Tamil journalist told us that the original terms of the order
had not changed, but that the deadline was extended until
June 1 at noon. This deadline has now passed, and police
have as yet taken no action to expel occupants from the
hostels. We have reports that five Muslim-owned lodges have
voluntarily decided to comply. The situation in Pettah
remains tense and the outcome uncertain.
3. (C) COMMENT: After the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) detonated bombs in Pettah on May 24 (ref A) and in the
southern Colombo suburb of Ratmalana on May 29 (ref B),the
GSL seems intent on finding the perpetrators before they
strike again. The several hundred thousand Tamils who live
permanently in Colombo are subject to routine questioning and
searches at hundreds of checkpoints. In this case, the GSL
has apparently decided that the many Tamils staying
temporarily in Colombo pose too great a security risk, and
have therefore sought to "evacuate" them back to their homes
in the north and east, regardless of their purpose in coming
to the city. These tactics can only serve to alienate
further an already deeply suspicious minority population.
The Tamil community will certainly view this step an
overreaction, reinforcing the belief that the GSL sees Tamils
as second-class citizens. The howl of protest the order
elicited provided a reminder to the President that he depends
on some Tamil members of Parliament, along with other
minorities and political moderates, for his legislative
majority.
BLAKE