The Face of the TRO

by Dharisha Bastians, The Nation, Colombo, December 17, 2006

“I have received threats personally too. My mother wants me to leave. (laughs). When I first came, there was a misunderstanding at a hotel. Three guys, when they found out I worked for TRO, they assaulted me and knocked my teeth out and these are fake teeth I have now. I don’t tell people I work for TRO anymore. But now because of the kidnappings and everything I have been in the media a lot, so I have people recognising me. But our mission is humanitarian and we have worked in the north east and LTTE controlled areas historically, but we would seek to expand to all communities equally.”

American-born Arjunan Ethirveerasingam is a brave man. Having told an acquaintance in Colombo that he worked for the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation, an NGO tainted by its affiliations to the LTTE once upon a time, back in peace time, he paid dearly by having his front teeth knocked out.

Nobody would deny then that the current climate is not the best of times for the TRO to work in Colombo and travel in and out of ‘uncleared’ areas of the north and east. The new emergency regulations have only exacerbated a situation of intense insecurity for the Tamil community in general, already marked by abductions, disappearances and extra-judicial killings. Needless to say, the TRO and its staff would be very much in the line of fire.

The Nation spoke to Ethirveerasingam, who is the TRO’s Media Consultant, for his views on the prevailing security situation, the obstacles in their path and the impact of the new regulations on the operations of the NGO.

“But we have had difficulties in the last two years travelling in the north and east and our vehicles don’t have big TRO stickers on them because of the dangers involved – although not from the government as such or anything. But there has been a change in the atmosphere – it is more negative”

Following are excerpts:

Q: TRO IDP camps were recently attacked in Vakarai. Can you tell us something about these camps, the people they held and what their position is right now?

A: The most recent one was on December 10. Approximately 40 people who were in three different TRO camps were killed. TRO has been the only organisation working in the Vakarai area because of the work permit rules where international NGOs are not allowed to go LTTE-controlled areas unless they have work permits. As a result, no INGOs work in those areas apart from the UN and the ICRC who have intermittent access depending on the conditions and approval from the GA [Government Agent] and the Sri Lanka Army. So TRO officers have been living and working with the UN and the ICRC when they bring the food convoys or the tents. The TRO then coordinates the distribution, the record keeping of the IDP camp inmates, etc, where they are. Once this shelling happened, the TRO was helping bring the people to the hospital and assisting the ICRC to take the people to Batticaloa and Valachchennai hospitals.

Communications are difficult. Phones lines work some of the time and sometimes not.

Q: Vakarai has been the constant target of aerial and artillery attacks and the situation doesn’t look to be getting any better any time soon. What is the feasibility of the TRO continuing to have welfare camps in such a volatile area?

A: We don’t force people to go anywhere or be any place they don’t want to be. We help provide services for them once they are displaced. Wherever they go, we help coordinate resettlement and provide them shelter and food and assist them to cook their own food. We work out water and sanitation issues. We respond to emergencies. It would be ideal for them to be housed in Colombo for the next few weeks but that’s impossible. We make do with the conditions that they’re in.

One of our appeals is that the Vakarai area be declared a zone of peace or a safe zone, so that only the IDPs will be there and both sides will respect the civilian status. These IDPs are not involved in the conflict, they are affected by the conflict so they should be respected as being civilians and not be collateral damage.

Q: How do you respond to the government’s charges that the LTTE is using these IDP camps as a human shield and firing from areas in which there is a high density of civilians in order to provoke retaliation?

A: One of the things we say is: allow the SLMM and the ICRC to spend the night in Vakarai and then they will know whether there is shelling coming from the camps. Our officers there, aid workers, categorically state that there was no firing from inside these camps. But, if you want an independent international observer, then by all means that is the best way to know. They will be able to tell you. The Sri Lanka government and the LTTE are both engaged in a war and not many put too much weight in any public statements that either of them make.

Q: How have the new emergency regulations affected the operations of the TRO?

A: They haven’t really affected us. We have not changed any procedures. Two TRO vehicles were stopped in Valachennai, but that was because they had copies of the vehicle registration and not the original. So we sent the registration out to them and the police had checked with the Registrar of Motor Vehicles and cleared it and said they were TRO’s vehicles and it was all legitimate. We are a registered NGO in Colombo and the south and we operate according to the rules of the country.

Q: Your funds were recently frozen. Can you explain this?

A: About 80 million rupees – 75-80% of which comes from INGOS [were frozen] – the UN and even the government of Sri Lanka has about 200,000 rupees there because of NECORD, which is an Asian Development Bank-funded project which we do in partnership with the government of Sri Lanka, so they have frozen their own money.

So this 80% of funds which comes from UN agencies, etc. is very carefully monitored by all these international organisations because they are very particular about where the money is spent. Twenty percent of the funds come from the Diaspora and we use a percentage of that for our administration and overhead expenses, since a lot of the INGOs don’t like to pay for administration costs. For instance, a Save The Children organisation is building 36 pre-schools with us throughout the northeast. We are working with the Sinhalese and Muslim communities also. They didn’t want to give any overhead costs, so we use Diaspora money to build up that area. But yes, we are quite confident that our lawyers – some of the best in the country – Desmond Fernando, Romesh De Silva, Mr. A.P. Niles and others – they have all said that, based on the evidence put forward by the Central Bank, the judge will rule in our favour. But, so far, the last two months, it has been procedural points of law that they keep debating.

Q: News reports indicated that the TRO had moved its funds outside after the regulations came into effect. How do you respond?

A: We only came to know that our accounts had been frozen on August 28, when our accountants went to the bank to make their normal transaction to one of the projects in Batticaloa. They were told they cannot do it. So that is how we came to know and, by that time, the accounts had already been frozen. In fact, as a result, a lot of TRO staff has been cut, in terms of salaries and things. In Colombo key personnel only come in only on Monday, Wednesday Friday; they don’t come Tuesday, Thursday. But, out in the field, people are working without salaries and we are existing on the cash reserves that we had at the time and local businessmen are giving us loans or goods on credit.

Q: Do you anticipate the banning of the TRO, as a front for the LTTE if the regulations become more stringent over time or if the PTA comes into effect?

A: It would all depend on whether or not we remain a recognised organisation or charity we would continue to operate as such. I don’t particularly know much about the PTA or the regulations, but someone was saying that there were provisions for humanitarian organisations to have interactions with the LTTE. But I was hoping that we would be able to continue, otherwise it would be a bad sign for the peace process, or what’s left of it. We came down here and registered in Colombo after the CFA and we had been in existence for 20 years before in the LTTE-controlled areas of the northeast. We were requested to do that by the Wickremesinghe administration, and the UN as well. They wanted  us to come and participate and we were one of the organisations bringing the peace dividend to the people of the northeast. A lot of INGOs were running around doing good work, but we were the most grassroots organisation out there. So to have us be limited in our current situation out there would be a bad sign.

Q: There has been a shift in the way this current government looks at all NGOs across the board, the TRO included. In that sense, do you think that at some point, the TRO might be banned? Is this government more hostile to the TRO, are you having issues?

A: Doctors without Borders won the Nobel Peace Prize a few years ago and they have been accused of things. So I don’t know. But we have had difficulties in the last two years travelling in the northeast and our vehicles don’t have big TRO stickers on them because of the dangers involved – although not from the government as such or anything. But there has been a change in the atmosphere – it is more negative, but I won’t point at any group or any individual for that. I would say it is part of the situation in the country.

Q: What is the mood among people in LTTE-controlled areas now?

A: The people are very disillusioned over the last four years. Peace has been promised and talked about. The peace dividend was supposed to filter down to their level. There has been prosperity in the south here and you can see it. But in the northeast, the structures were debated and talked about and monies promised, but the development never came.

The P-TOMS was signed and agreed on and then there was nothing. If you look at the number of houses that were built, just break down the government zone stats. It shows that 90 percent of the south is finished, the hotels are back in business but the northeast is still for one reason or the other – conflict or lack of funds – is still suffering. That’s not just the Tamils, but the Muslims and the Sinhalese. Everyone wants peace, but they realise that it is a difficult thing to achieve.

Q: The government recently levelled charges that tsunami aid given the northeast – UNHCR tents and things – were being used in LTTE bunkers. TRO was most often the channelling agency for tsunami aid in the northeast. How do you account for these materials becoming LTTE property?

A: UNHCR had their own operations there, they had their own presence and they were the lead agency for temporary shelters. We built about 9000 temporary shelters ourselves. There is this whole issue of decommissioning of temporary shelters. What happens to the materials? In most cases – in TRO cases – once people moved into the permanent houses built for them, they were allowed to take the materials and use it to build an animal shelter or storage room. What is given to the IDP person becomes their property and they don’t have to turn it back to the UNHCR or the TRO once it is given to them. So we had no control over what they did with it. Someone may have given it to his brother who was in the LTTE or something. It’s hard to tell. The government would blame the UNHCR for providing shelter, but the piece of tarpaulin may have been from 1995 or 1998; there were refugee camps in the past. They can’t track every piece of material. It’s a bit silly, but it makes a good photo.

Q: The TRO has often been accused of being a fundraising arm for the LTTE’s operations. How do you answer these charges and maintain your credibility as an NGO is not jeopardised worldwide?

A: Every TRO office around the world is a separate organisation. They have their own function and charter in keeping with the laws of that country. In the US, they are a registered charity – Canada, Australia, it is the same. There is no overarching unit holding them together, like Save the Children or something. These are separate entities. They do [however] fundraise in the name of that money will be sent to TRO Sri Lanka. In that sense, they are all independent and what we say is that, if any of them violate the laws of their country, then they should be prosecuted under the laws of that country. It should not reflect on us. We are engaged in humanitarian work and if somebody jeopardises that by using our name, they should be taken to task. We are confident that we haven’t been political and we won’t. We invite the Central Bank to look at our books and investigate us. We are an open, transparent organisation. 

Q: What have the impact of the recent abductions, disappearances and extra-judicial killings been on the TRO’s security?

A: We have had people resign; we get faxes, threats and phone calls. Our people don’t travel much. Most of them live here. It’s a concern. During the tsunami time and up to July this year, we had about 45 people working in an office over here. A lot of our foreign staff have now gone home. They came for development work and not to be involved in a war situation. In a conflict, there is a limited amount of work that can be done – humanitarian relief and emergency response. But in peace time, there is room for development work, so you have more need. A lot of the people we had back then wouldn’t be very useful now.

Q: Under the circumstances, how safe is it for YOU to stay in Colombo?

A: I have received threats personally too. My mother wants me to leave. (laughs). When I first came, there was a misunderstanding at a hotel. Three guys, when they found out I worked for TRO, they assaulted me and knocked my teeth out and these are fake teeth I have now. I don’t tell people I work for TRO anymore. But now because of the kidnappings and everything I have been in the media a lot, so I have people recognising me. But our mission is humanitarian and we have worked in the northeast and LTTE-controlled areas historically, but we would seek to expand to all communities equally. We are in the process of building Sinhalese and Muslim pre-schools and we have some peacebuilding things to bring all three communities together in the east and that’s a way forward and hopefully we’re able to continue that. The freezing of the funds is a political thing and hopefully, with due process, things will get back on track.

End

• View a printer-friendly version of this article