BRISBANE archdiocese’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC) has launched a petition calling on the Federal Government to pressure the Sri Lankan Government over its treatment of almost 300,000 Tamil civilians in internment camps.
The petition urges the Australian Govern-ment to call on the Sri Lankan Government to allow aid agencies, journalists, diplomats and human rights organisations better access to the camps.
It also calls for action to speed up the release of Tamils from the camps, to initiate an independent investigation of possible human rights violations during the military battle between Government forces and Tamil Tigers earlier this year, and to establish a process which promotes reconciliation by addressing the grievances of Tamils.
CJPC executive officer Peter Arndt said it was important that the situation for Tamils in the camps was not ignored.
“We are very concerned that the Government is not making action to help the Tamils in the camps an urgent priority because there is no public uproar about their plight,” Mr Arndt said.
“It is three months since the bloody conflict ended in Sri Lanka and there is no evidence that anyone has been released.
“In any case, we have to ask why the Sri Lankan Government is allowed to detain its citizens indefinitely in the way that it has.
“They are not allowed to leave these military-run camps which have dreadful conditions even though many have family and friends to whom they can go.”
Mr Arndt said the commission had received reliable reports of outbreaks of diseases like typhoid, serious over-crowding in many camps, inadequate obstetric care for thousands of pregnant women, over-stretched hospital facilities and children with chronic diseases like asthma not receiving appropriate care.
“Parents and children are separated from each other and they don’t know where their family members are,” he said.
“The Sri Lankan Government said it would have eighty per cent of people in camps resettled by the end of the year, but, after three months, no-one has been resettled.
“People could be stuck in these poor conditions for a very long time and this should not be tolerated.
“We have sent a copy of the petition and an information sheet to every parish in the Brisbane archdiocese and hope that Catholics will join us in calling on the Government to take stronger action to stop this dreadful situation from continuing.”
Copies of the petition and information can be downloaded from the commission’s blog at http://cjpcbrisbane.wordpress.com/
Mr Arndt said signed petitions needed to be returned to the commission by September 18 and would be presented to the Senate soon after that date.
The commission asked people concerned about the situation to also raise the issue with their local MPs and senators.
