[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 163 (Wednesday, November 4, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2717]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CALLING ON THE U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF 
             SRI LANKA'S TAMIL INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. MICHAEL E. McMAHON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 3, 2009

  Mr. McMAHON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House 
Resolution 711.
  The Tamil people have been exposed to unspeakable tragedies by all 
sides in the most recent ethnic conflict.
  Yet, the so-called end to the conflict in Sri Lanka has only brought 
more suffering and brutality to the Tamil people.
  Housed in barrack-style IDP camps, without the option of release, 
these 300,000 refugees are repeatedly betrayed by Sri Lankan officials 
that claim to be protecting them from the LTTE, a terrorist 
organization who was uprooted this Spring.
  Furthermore, stories of torture and injustice seep through the high 
barbed-wire walls surrounding these camps, despite limited access to 
outside NGOs and the media.
  This is frightening and simply unacceptable.
  My message has always been clear: I will not stand for the atrocities 
being committed in Sri Lanka.
  Through my work on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the 
subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, I have worked with 
Chairman Berman to include a provision in the Foreign Relations 
Authorization Act to condemn the Sri Lankan government's inaction and 
to mandate a cultural exchange for the new generation of Sri Lankans to 
study tolerance in the United States.
  For three long decades, Sri Lankans have been pitted against one 
another.
  And, thousands of innocent lives have been lost.
  It is time for a new direction in Sri Lanka.
  It is time for a political solution and an integration of minorities 
in Sri Lanka.
  Clearly, it is not enough to release a small number of refugees to 
host families or, for that matter, to farmland--as the government has 
reportedly been doing.
  These people must immediately be allowed to return to their homes and 
to their daily lives.

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