SRI LANKA: PRESIDENT DISCUSSES HUMANITARIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 000502

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/06/2019
TAGS: PREL PREF PHUM PGOV MOPS EAID CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: PRESIDENT DISCUSSES HUMANITARIAN
ASSISTANCE WITH CO-CHAIR AMBASSADORS

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES JAMES R. MOORE. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: President Rajapaksa discussed the
participation of the international community in ongoing
humanitarian relief efforts and future recovery efforts in
the conflict-affected north with Co-Chair Ambassadors on May

5. Charge, acting as spokesman for the Co-Chairs, urged the
President to honor his April 27 commitment to end combat
operations and to hold the safety of civilians in the "safe
zone" paramount. The President and his advisors pledged to
facilitate the operations of Red Cross medical evacuation and
supply boats despite ongoing combat operations. The
government remained firm in its position that UNHCR and the
ICRC had adequate access to the screening and registration
processes for IDPs at Omanthai. President Rajapaksa urged
the humanitarian agencies to provide more and better shelters
in the IDP camps. Senior Advisor Basil Rajapaksa defended
the government's requirement that NGOs working in the
humanitarian sector sign MoUs based on a model presented by
the government that conflicts with both EU and U.S. fiscal
and reporting requirements. The President insisted that
recovery and development work in the north would proceed on
the government's terms and warned the international community
against placing conditions on its assistance. End summary.

PRESIDENT CALLS IN CO-CHAIR AMBASSADORS


2. (C) President Rajapaksa summoned representatives of the
Co-Chairs at the Head of Mission level to a discussion on
humanitarian assistance on May 5. Charge attended for the
U.S.; other participants were Japanese Ambassador Takahashi,
Norwegian Ambassador Hattrem, EU Head of Delegation Savage,
and Swedish Charge Mungenast (representing the Czech EU
Presidency). Flanking Rajapaksa were Foreign Minister
Bogollagama, Disaster Management Minister Samarasinghe,
Senior Advisor Basil Rajapaksa, Head of Presidential
Secretariat Lalith Weeratunga, and Foreign Secretary Palitha
Kohona. Rajapaksa led by saying it was important to hear all
points of view ) not just the official one from his
advisors. He stated that his government wanted to see the
development of the recently liberated areas of the north
proceed as quickly as possible and reach out to the Tamil
population through measures such as water and electricity
projects. He welcomed the UN's recent allocation of
additional funds to help care for the IDPs, as well as donor
efforts to start demining as a prerequisite for resettlement.
He also mentioned the need to provide adequate housing for
returnees.


3. (C) Charge responded on behalf of the Co-Chairs, drawing
on points coordinated among the Ambassadors at a meeting at
Embassy prior to the encounter with the President. He first
mentioned some positive elements of the government's response
to the ongoing humanitarian crisis: its efforts to
accommodate more than 100,000 displaced persons in transit
sites, the start of returns of IDPs to their original homes
in the Mannar/Musalli area on April 30, and moves to
integrate Tamil political parties into the Sri Lankan
mainstream. Charge emphasized that everyone's first priority
was the safety of civilians, particularly those in the "safe"
or "no-fire zone" (NFZ). It was therefore paramount that
both sides abide by their separate commitments to end combat
operations.

MILITARY OPERATIONS LIMIT RED CROSS ACCESS TO SAFE ZONE


4. (C) Rajapaksa replied that the security forces were
receiving urgent messages from civilians still inside the
LTTE-controlled area. They were urging the Army to break a
12-foot earthwork berm the LTTE used to keep them captive, so
that they could escape to the government-controlled side, the
President said. He noted that the Air Force had dropped
leaflets in his name urging LTTE cadres to surrender. He
knew that at least one or two senior LTTE leaders remained

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inside the NFZ, but was not sure whether Tiger supremo
Prabhakaran was still there.


5. (C) Charge said the Co-Chairs were especially concerned
about the dramatic shortage of both food and medicine in the
NFZ. He noted that the ICRC had brought in limited
quantities of both in late April, but that the quantities
were clearly insufficient. He urged the government to
cooperate by granting the Red Cross access to the NFZ to
perform its humanitarian mission. Basil Rajapaksa said that
the Additional Government Agent for the area was still inside
the zone and liaising with both the UN and ICRC. He accused
the LTTE of hindering shipments of relief supplies, saying
that the LTTE cadres had staked the first claim to limited
food supplies, leaving the civilians to suffer. The LTTE was
seeking a world-wide propaganda bonanza by dramatizing the
scarcity of food. He pointed out that the Health Ministry
had sent a shipment of medicines with a recent ICRC boat.
The President insisted that "from our side," deliveries of
food were "no problem." He said the Navy was standing off
whenever the ICRC boat approached, "but no one can control
the LTTE."

GOVERNMENT SAYS MONITORING OF SCREENING AND REGISTRATION
ADEQUATE


6. (C) Charge noted that both UN Under Secretary John Holmes
and Special Rapporteur Walter Kaelin had addressed the issue
of UNHCR and ICRC access to civilians as soon as they left
the safe zone until they reached the camps. Basil Rajapaksa
said that the departure from LTTE-controlled territory did
not amount to the crossing of an international border, just
"moving from one Sri Lankan village to another." He said
that the Army simply performs a body check for weapons and
explosives, then puts the displaced persons on buses directly
to the former crossing point at Omanthai. Basil claimed
there was no screening or registration of IDPs until they
reached Omanthai and therefore no reason for the
international humanitarian agencies to monitor their
treatment at Kilinochchi or any other point north of
Omanthai.

RELIEF EFFORTS IN IDP CAMPS AND ACCESS FOR NGOS


7. (C) The President welcomed the UN's certification of the
facilities at the camps as being "up to international
standard" but said the IDPs were not happy with the temporary
shelters provided by relief agencies. He noted that two or
three families were being accommodated in tents intended for
one family. He claimed that the government had provided
enough cleared land, but the international community should
provide more and better tents. Also, the system of water
supply through bowsers was expensive and inefficient.


8. (C) Charge assured the President that the international
community wanted to continue to assist the government's
emergency relief efforts. While the UN and ICRC were now
satisfied with their level of access to the IDP camps,
Charge urged strongly that similar access be provided to
non-governmental organizations involved in relief efforts.
Basil Rajapaksa said 52 NGOs and international organizations
have been granted access to the IDP camps, then pushed back,
saying that NGOs "only perform work when they are paid for
it." The NGOs were now complaining that the donors were not
providing funds for relief, he said. Basil claimed that the
majority of health assistance was being donated by ordinary
Sri Lankan citizens and trucked up to the camps. The
President interjected with several anecdotes about NGO staff
enjoying high living standards in luxurious accommodations in
Colombo. He asserted that some Hindu voluntary organizations
were beginning to complain about religious conversions
performed by humanitarian relief workers in the camps.

PRESIDENT WANTS RECONSTRUCTION ON HIS TERMS

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9. (C) Basil Rajapaksa repeated earlier allegations that
NGOs had spent a great deal of money building bunkers for the
LTTE in the North with tsunami funds but had done no real
development work. He stated that any NGO that could
demonstrate adequate resources could sign an agreement with
the government concerning the scope of its activities and
then gain access to IDP camps. He complained, however, that
donors were now pressuring the NGOs not to sign the Memoranda
of Understanding (MoUs). EU Head of Delegation Bernard
Savage responded that there may have been some abuses by
NGOs, but it was far more common to "see them digging
latrines." He explained that the MoUs contained several
provisions that were contrary to EU public finance
regulations. He urged the government to bracket the issue by
suspending the discussion of the MoUs for the duration of the
current emergency.


10. (C) The President stated that it was time for the
international community to come to the aid of Sri Lanka, but
that it was the government's duty to supervise these
activities. He made it clear that the GSL insisted on
maintaining control of the process. "Don't try to dictate to
us by imposing conditions. This will be done on our terms."
If necessary, the government would refuse international
assistance, stop development projects in the south and devote
resources to the conflict-impacted areas instead. Basil
Rajapaksa added that discussion with the NGOs had been
continuing over the MoUs for three to four months, and that
the UN and other international players were present at those
discussions.

CO-CHAIRS URGE SPEEDY RETURNS OF IDPS


11. (C) Charge urged the government to accelerate the
process of returning IDPs to their home villages. He said
the government should not wait for the entire north to be
demined, but to proceed step by step, returning IDPs as soon
as the demining organizations could pronounce the villages
safe. He noted that many donors, including all of the
Co-Chairs bilaterally, were contributing to demining efforts.
He welcomed the fact that older people were now being
allowed to leave the camps and asked the government to extend
this to other groups not deemed to pose a threat, such as
pregnant women, those with young children, and the
handicapped. The President claimed that there had been abuses
after the tsunami where people claiming to be relatives of
the displaced had them released from temporary sites, only to
employ them as domestic servants or sell them to traffickers.
He vowed this would not happen again. "We have to be
careful." Basil Rajapaksa pointed out that the government
had no economic interest in keeping people in IDP camps
longer than necessary, since their care and maintenance was
very expensive.


12. (C) COMMENT: The ICRC (strictly protect) told us on May
5 that the LTTE was not currently posing obstacles to its
medical evacuation boat's access to the "safe zone," but that
the Sri Lankan Army had reservations because of ongoing
military operations and heavy fighting as it pushed south
into the NFZ. However, on May 6 Embassy learned that
clearance had been granted for the ICRC boat the following
day. It is becoming increasingly difficult to negotiate
pauses in the fighting to allow relief operations to continue
even at the current limited and inadequate levels. The MoUs
continue to be a bone of contention. Conflicts between the
model MoUs proposed by the government and USAID fiscal
regulations and other legal considerations could become
deal-breakers, preventing international non-governmental
organizations from using USAID funding. These issues include
requirements that some cash be provided to GSL line
ministries, that NGOs comply with GSL reporting and auditing
requirement which are different from USAID's, and provisions
concerning ownership of data and confidentiality which would

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be in breach of USAID rules. We do not know the specifics of
the EU's reservations, but they are probably similar, not
identical, to ours. The EU suggestion that the GSL postpone
the imposition of this requirement until the end of the
current emergency strikes us as sensible and necessary, but
appears to have fallen on deaf ears.
MOORE