Vanni District Member of Parliament Thurairasa Ravikaran questioned when the Sri Lankan government would recognise the suffering of Tamil families of the forcibly disappeared, who have been protesting continuously in the North-East for nearly a decade in search of their loved ones.
Raising the issue during a parliamentary debate on the extension of emergency regulations, Ravikaran criticised the government for acting swiftly to address global developments while failing to respond to the long-standing demands of families of the disappeared.
He pointed to the continuing protest in Mullaitivu led by relatives of those who were forcibly disappeared during the armed conflict. The protest, which began in 2017, has passed the 9 year mark.
Despite nearly a decade of continuous demonstrations demanding truth and justice, Ravikaran said that no meaningful answers had been provided to the families.
He noted that relatives of the disappeared continue to gather daily in the hope that their daughters, sons, husbands, wives, fathers and mothers will one day return. Trusting successive Sri Lankan governments but repeatedly being deceived, the families have also appealed to the international community for justice, Ravikaran said.
During this prolonged struggle, he added, many of the relatives who took part in the protests have passed away while still waiting to learn the fate of their loved ones.
Ravikaran also criticised the current Sri Lankan regime for what he described as the gap between its public rhetoric and its actions.
He said that government claims about child psychology, women’s liberation, gender equality, human rights and the protection of the elderly had proven hollow when it came to addressing the demands of families of the disappeared.
Concluding his remarks, Ravikaran questioned when the government would begin to recognise the suffering of people living within the country itself.
He asked when the Sri Lankan government, which he said quickly seeks emergency measures even in response to tremors in the Middle East, would come to understand the pain of families in the North-East who have been searching for answers about their missing relatives for nearly a decade.
Relatives of the forcibly disappeared across the Tamil homeland have been engaged in sustained protests since 2017, demanding information about the fate of thousands of people who disappeared during the armed conflict and its aftermath.
Many families allege that their loved ones were last seen surrendering to Sri Lankan security forces during the final stages of the Mullivaikkal genocide in 2009. Despite repeated calls for accountability, the fate of those individuals remains unknown.
