Media Release : Saturday, 07 January 2005

Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) Conducts a Smear Campaign in Australia

Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) in an appeal distributed on 2 January 2005 for donations from the Australian public has categorically stated that neither any assistance from the Sri Lankan Government nor any aid from International donor organizations have reached areas forcibly controlled by the Tamil Tiger terrorists in the North and East of Sri Lanka. When reputed international organizations such as the Red Cross, World Vision, Oxfam, Care Australia and the World Food Program (WFP) are going all out to help the millions of tsunami victims in all affected areas, including the North and the East in Sri Lanka, it is indeed unfortunate and dishonest for the TRO to go before the Australian public in a massive door-to-door campaign to mislead them regarding the true ground situation in Sri Lanka.   

The disaster, which struck Sri Lanka and other countries, took the Nations by surprise both in its magnitude and effect. In Sri Lanka, as well as in Indonesia, there are areas, which are still inaccessible. If there are delays in the provision of assistance, it has little to do with political or ethnic issues. It has all to do with complex logistics problems at a time when the country is facing a disaster of unprecedented scale.  As reported by the BBC and CNN, monsoonal floods have temporarily cut off access to towns in the North and the East of Sri Lanka further exacerbating the problem.    

In their 2004 report on Tamil Tiger terrorist’s use of child soldiers, the Human Rights Watch has identified the TRO as a front of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE is classified as a terrorist organization in America, USA, UK, India, Australia and many other countries around the world. They have the dubious honour of introducing suicide bombers to the world. The Human Rights Watch Report recommends Governments to refuse funding projects carried out by the TRO, based on ongoing human rights violations by the LTTE. 

The Tamil political leader, Mr Anandasangaree has appealed to the LTTE not to obstruct Tsunami relief operations. Mr Subramaniam Swamy, the South Indian political leader has stated that the LTTE should not be allowed to make use of this opportunity to recoup its manpower losses. Tamil leaders fear that the TRO may be pressured to divert Tsunami funds into LTTE coffers to fund arms purchases and replace damaged suicide boats of the "Sea Tigers".  Everyone should roundly condemn these inhuman heartless tactics of the LTTE.  

Although the TRO is trying to portray the East and the North as one unit under LTTE control, only three districts in the regions are out of Sri Lankan Government direct control. Sri Lankan Government is not only attending to the needs of the affected areas, most of which are under State control, but also supplying assistance to the forcibly occupied areas under the jackboot of LTTE terror in spite of subversive actions taken by the LTTE.  

The attempt by the LTTE and by TRO to confuse international donor agencies, foreign Governments and the public in general about the true situation in the North and the East in Sri Lanka by making baseless allegations against the Sri Lankan Government and other well-known aid organizations must be condemned and considered as an unpardonable crime against humanity. The statements made by the UN, UNHCR representatives in Sri Lanka that distribution of relief assistance is handled fairly and equitably expose the smear campaigners and the questionable agenda of the TRO.  

There is a course of action that the TRO could follow to extricate itself from being closely linked to Tamil Tiger Terrorists in Sri Lanka. In particular, TRO should:  

(1) Issue a statement that they condemn the brutal and violent acts of the LTTE, including the continuing assassination of Tamil politicians and civilians that have the courage to promote views contrarily to LTTE’s despotic racist beliefs;  

(2) Urge the LTTE to adopt principles of democracy, human rights, plurality and the rights of the child;  

(3) Publish how money collected in the past five years was spent; and  

(4) Publish how the millions of dollars being collected now will be spent in the near future.  

Unless it is capable of shunning LTTE’s violence, questions will continued to be raised about TRO’s credibility.  

If the TRO is incapable of adopting the above-proposed course, the key question in everybody’s mind should be “Will money collected in the guise of the helping people affected by the tsunami really go to the needy Tamil people affected by the Tsunami or will parts of the money go towards strengthening the megalomaniac Prabakaran’s depleted LTTE war chest?”  

The international media must pose this question to the TRO.