Apartheid In Arugam Bay
The approach is simply breathtaking. And the place itself, picture perfect. But all this beauty hides the harsh reality that Arugam Bay really isn’t what it should be. Located on the long forgotten east coast of the island, Arugam Bay is world famous as a surfers paradise and with the end of the war, tourists have been flocking to the place in numbers.
And it is this influx of tourists that has led to a scramble to grab beachside property by both foreigners and locals to cash in on the booming tourist trade.
Beachside ‘joints’ can be quite selective on whom they choose to entertain
Every conceivable space on the beachfront has been converted to some guesthouse or the other offering accommodation, and business is brisk. A noteworthy fact however is that many of the properties on the beach strip are owned by foreigners. How this has come about is open to debate but much of the acquiring had taken place during the war when Sri Lankans showed little inclination to venture in to the area.
With the end of the war however things changed dramatically and the foreigners who bought prime land at a pittance now find themselves sitting on a gold mine. Today Arugam Bay resembles some Yankee beach strip with the fair skinned guesthouse owners calling the shots.
One disconcerting fact is that these foreign guesthouse owners openly discriminate against the local tourists. To them, white skin is the preferred colour. On a tour there recently we were able to experience this selective hospitality first hand. Here is one such conversation:
‘Do you have a room available?’ The local receptionist cum caretaker replies ‘yes’ but says needs to ‘check’ with the boss. He goes into a back room where the boss, a foreigner, is apparently cooking and informs him that someone wants a room. Then comes the odd question – ‘Local or foreigner?’ We clearly overhear this but the foreigner makes no attempt to hush his voice. It’s done openly, as if the norm.
The moment the receptionist cum caretaker informs the boss that his would-be guest is a local, the man reacts with a degree of annoyance. ‘No, no, no rooms,’ he blabbers. We suspect his annoyance is due to the caretaker not being mindful of the house guest policy of ‘foreigners only.’ A somewhat embarrassed caretaker who seems aware that the conversation could have been overheard walks back and conveys the message. Surprised by the turn of events we move on, to the next place. It is the same story at many of the places. The stock excuse is that the place is full, but rooms do seem to materialise when foreigners turn up.
Besides the blatant discrimination against the locals by the foreign property owners, there is another unsavoury dimension. Most of the other properties are owned by Muslims and it seems a hangover from the war days still remains. Like the foreigners they have their own set of discriminatory policies. Here is the conversation that took place at a ‘nice’ hotel by the beach.
‘Do you have a room available.’ ‘Yes’ replies a sun burnt young man with a distinct ‘eastern’ Tamil accent. Then he ponders a bit and asks, ‘for how many.’ We reply ‘one person.’ His next question shocks us. “Sinhalada?” he asks. We reply in the affirmative and the reply comes fast. “Rooms na (no),” he says and nonchalantly turns around and disappears inside the shack like structure. This was experienced in at least three such places. It is hard to imagine that one and a half years after the war ended discrimination on ethnic lines is still strong as ever.
Even the local police seem to be quite aware of the status quo. An officer was to mention that they are helpless when it came to such matters as accepting or rejecting a guest was at the complete discretion of the guesthouse owners.
For all its stunning beauty Arugam Bay has a dark side and unfortunately you have to be a Sri Lankan to experience it. Though certainly not the norm, a form of apartheid does exist at this exotic location that is clearly struggling to cope with the demand for accommodation and to shed its wartime hangovers.
However there is light at the end of the tunnel. With big hotel groups moving into the region with mega hotels, the small guest house keepers will soon discover that they no longer are the sole purveyors of accommodation in Arugam Bay and that’s when business economics will come into play, forcing them to shove all their discriminatory policies out of the window.
If so, the question is why?
Why do they discriminate?
Maybe the arugambay community had bitter experiences with local visitors?
business is business! – But I’ve seen drunk, disorderly and totally unpolite sri lankans spoil the fun at abay.
only last night, some tried to start a fight for no other reason than jealosy:
And that, may we assume, could be behind your article, No?
i.e. Why din’t YOU buy that ‘gold mine land for a pittance’ years ago?
pse reflect and see just how racist Sri Lanka has turned out to be recently.
Don’t blame it on the few supporting foreigners – or the muslims, please.
This Comment is saved, and will be published on uncensored sites, as we doubt that the great S.L. will ever publish anything going against its grain
When I was at Swansea (UK) loacl white owners refused to rent a room for me. I am surprised that Sri Lanka should allow thses whites to practice their apartheid here. Let alone Tamils. These 2 gangs write in BBC and everywhere else how discriminative Sri Lanka and Tamilnet writes about Sinhala apartheid all the time. Let’s thorw these buggers out if they can’t change their attitude. Serve Sri Lankan’s first.
Mr Joseph, I think your comments are biased and perhaps you need to think clearly that the people are Prejudiced in that part of the country. I have been travelling right throughout the east-coast and have come across the arrogance and racial attributes presented by them.
This is not new to us. We are so used to discriminate and be discriminated by our own. Think how many times have we seen Sinhalese against Tamils Muslims Burghers etc…been discriminated and then among our own against so called cast system?. The war startd due to discrimination. One race against the other. Let this be an eye opener and let’s start respecting each other irrespective of color cast or creed
I am a local and I say life is too short to get mad, just get even. Let the market dictate their destiny. Spread the word around, go to websites and blogs and write about these establishments and their practices, stop patronizing them, run them out of business the time-tested way. Good article.
You can never run them out of business. Reasons?
1. YOU want their rooms. They dont want you.
2. Most visitors are surfers who require lodging for the night.They neednt come to Arugam Bay just to gape at the sea.
3. If you dont surf, why do you require lodgings by the beach. Theres plenty inland.
4. Arugam Bay is famous enough. Write about it on the web and it will get more competetive- the rooms in greater demand.
5.Once a foreigner sets up such a business, legitimately they have their own rules. Cannot argue about that. eg: bars and nightclubs in Pattaya, Bangkok , Songla in Thailand.
6. WE need the foreign dollars. They can take it elsewhere.
Elementary, Mr Watson. Aint it so?
Send Mervyn to sorth them out
It is not that elementry Mr. Fahad. If they run a business they cannot descriminate on the basis of ethinicity in delivering their services. That is against the the ethical behaviour and I hope it is against the SL civil law too. If they do not have such laws it is time to bring anti discriminatory laws like in many countries.
Is that discrimination on ethnic lines is still strong only in Arugambay? Look at outside north east. Question in the background is always Demalada Thambitha? Minorities are moving away from united society because of the discrimination meted in the past. Did successive governments give a single piece of lands to Tamils or Muslims after independence? Who benefited from Gam Udawas? Only Sinhalese are being settled in North East continuously. See Cheddikulam, Vavuniya South, Ampara, Seruwila, Maduruoya, Welioya, Girandurukotte, Dehiattakandiya etc. Why Tamils and Muslims can’t have modern villages? Are they not citizens of this country?
Imagine what will happen to the monorities if Fonseka became president.