Louise Markus (Greenway, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to this motion on Sri Lanka because in the electorate of Greenway I have Sri Lankans of Sinhalese and Tamil descent, all who call Australia home. I thank the member for Fremantle for moving this motion. I hope for a lasting ceasefire and enduring peace where a mutually viable and appropriate plan for reconciliation between the government and the Tamil community and/or solutions in this instance are likely to require a practical, political approach, which at the moment seems to be beyond the reach of all involved.

If we look at the history of this conflict, we see it has been going on for some 25 years, involving more than 100,000 deaths in the conflicts both in the north and the south. Successive attempts to resolve the ethnic conflict between the Sri Lankan Tamils, who have traditionally inhabited the north and north-east regions, and the Sinhalese, concentrated in the central and southern regions, have been tried since the 1950s, but still we see no success. The nature of the main Tamil national organisation, the LTTE, has made any peace settlement particularly hard, but the Sinhalese dominated political parties have also consistently failed to reach consensus on reasonable power-sharing or devolution proposals that might be acceptable to the majority of Tamils.

If we look at the peace process which began in 2002, we see that talks broke down due to misunderstandings and a lack of will on both sides. Ongoing fighting has produced a major humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka’s north-eastern region. The numbers are hard to estimate, given the challenge of accessing that region. Over 50,000 civilians remain trapped in the crossfire between government forces and the Tamil Tigers and more than 150,000 are displaced in government camps and detention centres with no freedom of movement and in conditions that fall far short of international standards.

Since fighting intensified in mid-January 2009, the UN estimates some 6,500 civilians, including at least a thousand children, have died and more than 10,000 have been injured. Some 100,000 civilians managed to escape to government controlled territory in the wake of the army’s assault on 21 April, but information on the ground suggests that more than 50,000 are still trapped in the region. Those who took part in April’s exodus faced desperate conditions with relief agencies denied access to the initial points of reception and military-screening centres. The military are unequipped to offer urgently needed food, water and medical care. Camps for the displaced have been overwhelmed by the new influx.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, is demanding an independent investigation into atrocities committed by both sides in the conflict. Here tonight, while we debate and discuss the challenges facing Sri Lanka, we should consider the priorities. It will take willingness on both sides—a willingness to negotiate a mutually viable and appropriate plan. But, first, there needs to be a response to this humanitarian conflict. It is important that the Sri Lankan government opens up the way to allow full access to UN and other humanitarian agencies to the camps so they can provide all necessary aid to individuals, particularly to the children. It is time that both parties came together and looked realistically at mutually agreeable solutions, and that will take willingness on both sides—a willingness to look at what is required and a willingness to move forward to a better future for all Sri Lankans.

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