UK Calls For Reduced Military Presence
Britain has urged the government to reduce the military presence in the north, especially in Jaffna and the Wanni.
The British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives John Rankin said that the military presence in the north should resemble that of the army presence seen in other parts of the country.
“The President said in his victory day speech that the military is no longer involved in civil administration in the north and east of the country. It is very important that should be the case and we will continue to monitor the situation. It is important that people have a say in the day to day decisions that affect them and that normal civil administration is restored to the greatest extent possible,” he said in a video posted on YouTube.
Rankin also said that it is a good thing that the LTTE continues to remain a proscribed organization in many countries of the world including the United Kingdom.
During his victory day speech President Mahinda Rajapaksa rejected calls to close army bases in the former war zone. Rajapaksa said reducing the military camps in the former war zone would be a risk to national security.
“There are many who shout that the security forces camps in these areas should be removed. They ask us why they are not removed,” he said, pointing out the north was under civilian, not military rule.
“We must ask if we are in a position to remove the armed forces camps in the north and reduce our attention to national security. That is not possible.”
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan told the media last week that his party would continue to press for the removal of military camps in the northern part of the country.
“The current ratio of security personnel in the north is one soldier to every eight civilians. This is too much and we have highlighted the need to reduce the military presence to restore normalcy to this region,” he said.
The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) has also recommended that military camps be removed from the north.
It is about time that British are told to get the hell out of Sri Lankan administrative procedures. The British should be told that Sri Lanka was under their rule but not any more and the so called commonwealth is a piece of stinking trash. British should leave Sri Lanka for good at least by now. It was British who brought most of the Tamils from Channai as slaves like they transported Africans as slaves to America and it them who created the current problem in Palestine, Kashmir etc. I do not understand why Sri Lankans have to bend over to British this much, they have not done any good lately other than trying to rub their nose in Si Lankan politics and the way the Govt. administer the land. If Britishes are so fond of Tamils they should take all including the second generation from the Tamils they brought from India. This way the Tamils will have a far better life than in Sri Lanka and will get their equal rights in England. It will be a blessing in disguise for Tamils if Britishes do this.