The main conclusion which Cohen and Deng draw about the situation of IDPs in Sri Lanka is that "[t]he study on Sri Lanka shows a government basically willing to assist its displaced populations, all the while engaged in combat with the minority population composing the displaced.." (p.3) The editors have seen past the lack of clarity of the case study in their own book about what group constitutes the displaced - the minority Tamils. Their appreciation of the Sri Lankan Government's generosity must be, in their mind, in contrast to the actions of other governments, rather than an understanding of how this generosity is viewed on the ground.

The Sri Lankan Government feels that it must continue to provide basic services to the people of the Northeast Province (NEP) because this is the most important way that it can hold onto its 'title of ownership.' Similarly, Jordan paid salaries and provided services in the West Bank for years after the Israelis took actual physical possession. Secondly, because Sri Lanka is so small and dependent on outsiders, it tries its best to avoid creating a situation where outsiders feel they must intervene. By providing minimum services to IDPs, the Government allows the war to continue as an "internal matter", with most NGOs and reporters excluded. Most importantly, by keeping IDPs minimally fed, the Government prevents dramatic population flows to India, which would trigger Indian involvement. For the IDPs, and Tamils in general, the significant point is that IDPs of different ethnic groups are treated differently, with Sinhalese receiving the best treatment, which further divides the communities.

Seneviratne and Stavropoulou have done a good job of giving a general overview of the situation in Sri Lanka. The chapter consists of a political introduction, a summary of Deng's visit in 1993 and a review of events since 1994. However, no matter how appreciative one wants to be of their efforts to be evenhanded, the authors are handicapped by their own backgrounds. Prof. Seneviratne undoubtedly had the major hand in this chapter and he is a Sinhalese. Just as one would be cautious asking a Serb to discuss the situation in Kosovo, or a Chinese to talk about Tibet, it is difficult to see the rationale for asking a Sinhalese to write about a problem which is currently primarily one affecting the Tamils .

Because problems of [a much smaller] Sinhalese displacement happened some time ago, most of those displaced have been resettled, or their situation otherwise resolved through the help of the Government and NGOs. It is Tamil displacement which remains an acute and ongoing problem, with more displacement occurring every time there is a new Government military offensive. Tens of thousands still live with inadequate shelter, little food and unreliable water supply. This article does not allow one to feel the urgency of the IDPs' condition today, and leaves one with a feeling that the problem is under control.

A related weakness is the failure to quantify the IDPs by ethnic group and geographic location. In the opening paragraphs, there is the statement, "Displacement has affected the whole country, but the single largest group of affected persons are the Tamils from Northeastern Sri Lanka." Nowhere are numbers given which show how disproportionately affected this group has been, and continues to be.

Also, in the first paragraphs it is stated that most of the 400,000 people who fled Jaffna City in Oct 1995 have returned, giving the impression that IDPs in this area are no longer a problem. Both facts are untrue, and result from confusion between Jaffna City and Jaffna Peninsula. Of the approximately 800,000 to 1 million people who lived in the Jaffna Peninsula before the 1995 invasion, about 450,000 remain, and/or have returned from the Vanni where they fled, and live spread out throughout the peninsula. This leaves about 400,000 still living in the Vanni, a figure the Government disputes, which is what gives this discussion importance.

The authors also place considerably more faith in the good intentions of the government than is justifiable. The first sentence talks of the government's being sincerely "committed to peace and thereby eradicating the root of the problem of internal displacement." Perhaps certain individuals and sections of the government are committed to peace and feel they have a "genuine sense of duty towards its people"(p.371), but one of Pres. Chandrika Kumaratunga’s first acts was to appoint her uncle, Ratwatte, head of the armed forces. Considering his position on the ethnic question, and that "[t]here has been a gradual subordination to military priorities of commitments and obligations made by the PA government"(p393) and "[g]iven the military's important role in those areas where there are large concentrations of displaced populations"(p.395) faith in the government's good intentions towards Tamil IDPs seems misplaced. The difficult situation of the IDPs in the Vanni is discussed, yet other than a comment at the end about "restrictions on access"(p.395) little is mentioned about the government itself being the cause of these difficulties because of its restrictions on materials of all sorts entering the Vanni, including agricultural inputs and medicines. Prof. Paust has called these restrictions a war crime in his May 1998 article.*

Throughout the chapter, unfortunately, Prof. Seneviratne's [Sinhala] background peeks through. For instance, in the section on 'Economy and Social Welfare' the statement   "[Sri Lanka's] major problems of poverty and unemployment, however, have affected in particular the farmers of the south."(p.376) Perhaps at one time there was a disparity between the incomes of the north and south, but it was poverty and lack of development which fueled the separatist war and the professor has obviously not been to the NEP recently to see the economic effects of 15 years of war and 8 years of economic blockade when he makes this judgement.

Certain historical errors show a lack of complete familiarity with the subject, for instance saying that PLOTE and TELO appeared in 1987 with the landing of the IPKF.

Reviewed by: Avis Sri Jayantha