Sri Lanka’s Tamils face hard future
[ AFP ]
Sri Lanka’s government says it is on the verge of defeating Tamil Tiger rebels and ushering in peace after decades of ethnic bloodshed, but the island’s main ethnic minority is as fearful as ever. Ethnic Tamil civilians reduced to submission by the feared Tamil Tiger rebels are equally apprehensive of government forces even as the military announced it hoped to finish off the guerrillas by April. Last year the authorities evicted hundreds of Tamils from Colombo, saying they were a threat to national security. The move was stopped following court intervention after charges that it amounted to collective punishment.