Condition of hunger strikers deteriorates in Chengalpet detention camp

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 June 2012, 20:57 GMT]

As the indefinite hunger strike by Eezham Tamil refugees in the notorious Chengalpet ‘special camp’ in Tamil Nadu enters its 12th day, 9 out of the 14 inmates fasting have been hospitalized, with 8 of them in a critical condition. A total of 29 detainees, who have been locked up in inhuman conditions on charges based on flimsy grounds, have been demanding release and relocation to their families outside or to the other ‘normal camps’. But despite their deteriorating conditions and protests by political parties in the recent past, the authorities have shown silence. Speaking to TamilNet, an inmate who did not want to be named appealed to the Tamil diaspora to use their influence and to work with concerned forces in Tamil Nadu to highlight the injustices that the Tamil refugees have been facing in such detention camps in the state.

Stating the miserable conditions in the camp and the physical and psychological humiliations they face as refugees, he said that as long as the Eezham Tamils are deprived of their homeland, they would remain in such status, adding that Tamil Eelam was needed for them to live in a humane environment with dignity and peace.

Of the protestors, one has developed a low pulse rate, while three others are suffering from haematuria, medical sources said.

All of the 29 inmates have been detained in the camp for not having a passport.

While the authorities have claimed in a report in the Indian newspaper Times of India that they have been kept here only for “recent criminal activities”, civil society activists working on this issue deny it as baseless allegation.

Protests by political outfits and civil society organizations opposing their detention took place last week too, but to no avail.

A new demonstration involving different political outfits and civil groups has been called for by film director Pugazhendhi Thangaraj this Saturday at Chengalpet in solidarity with the hunger strikers, to demand closure of the camp and the release of the detainees.

Speaking to TamilNet, Thirumurugan Gandhi of the May 17 Movement called upon the diaspora to register their protest to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and to Indian consulates to secure an unconditional release of the detained inmates and to ensure closure of such notorious detention facilities.

“This camp is India’s Guantanamo Bay. India is not even following basic premises of Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Let alone refugee rights, these Tamils are beyond judicial rights too,” he said, contrasting the visibly superior treatment given to Tibetan refugees and the rehabilitation works set-up for the Afghan refugees in India.

“As there is a Tamil diaspora that is globally present, we should stand up in one voice for this cause to address the unjust stand that the Indian government takes against the Eezham Tamils,” he said.

Around 100,000 registered Eezham Tamil refugees in camps and more than that number living outside, do not come under any international convention of refugees and are deprived of basic rights of refugees since the Indian establishment is not a signatory to any international convention related to refugees.

However, the refugees gagged of political voice and political mobilisation for more than quarter a century, are being used by the New Delhi establishment for its agenda in the island of Sri Lanka, accuse rights activists in Chennai.

Floods threaten Tamils

in Sri Lanka’s detention camps

- HRW

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 August 2009, 10:31 GMT]
Floods and disease are threatening the health and lives of hundreds of thousands of Tamils detained enmasse in violation of international by the Sri Lankan government, HRW said Tuesday. The floods have caused emergency latrines to flood or collapse, causing sewage to flood several areas of the camps, heightening the risk of outbreaks of contagious diseases. The camps are located in places that are known to flood during the onsetting monsoon season.

Flooding in Vavuniyaa internment camps

Meanwhile, HRW says camp residents are getting increasingly frustrated by the difficult conditions in the camps. In late June, camp residents held at least two protests, which were dispersed by the security forces. Since then, the military administration of the camps, apparently fearing more unrest, has divided the camps into smaller sections, which are easier to control.

The full text of HRW’s statement follows:

Floods caused by heavy rains unnecessarily threaten more than 260,000 displaced Tamil civilians whom the Sri Lankan government has unlawfully detained in camps in northern Sri Lanka, Human Rights Watch said today.

Permitting displaced families to move in with friends and host families would quickly address the deteriorating conditions in the camps with the onset of the rainy season, Human Rights Watch said.

"The government has detained people in these camps and is threatening their health and even their lives by keeping them there during the rainy season floods," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "This is illegal, dangerous, and inhumane."

In violation of international law, the government has since March 2008 confined virtually all civilians displaced by the fighting between government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in detention camps, euphemistically called "welfare centers" by the government. Only a few thousand camp residents have been released and allowed to return home or to stay elsewhere.

During the last several days, heavy rain fell on northern Sri Lanka, flooding several camps. Zones 2 and 4 of Manik farm, a large complex of camps west of the town of Vavuniya, were particularly affected by rain. More rain is expected with the onset of the rainy season next month, further worsening conditions in the overcrowded camps.

"Aanathi," a 30-year-old woman living in zone 2 with her 1-year-old son, told Human Rights Watch: "Within seconds, the water was pouring into our tents. ... After a couple of minutes, everything was flooded. We lost all of our things. We had no place to cook. We couldn't get help from anybody, because everybody was in the same situation. It was terrible. We were already frightened, and this made it worse."

Seven people from three families were living in Aanathi's tent, which was designed to house five people. According to the United Nations, the majority of the camps are severely overcrowded; zones 2 and 4, with a joint capacity of 50,000 people, held more than 100,000 people as of July 28, 2009. For their protection, the residents who spoke with Human Rights Watch were not identified by their real names.

The rain caused emergency latrines to flood or collapse, causing sewage to flood several areas of the camps, heightening the risk of outbreaks of contagious diseases. "Shantadevi," also in zone 2, told Human Rights Watch: "Some of the toilets are completely flooded. It looks like they are floating in water. The pits have collapsed and raw sewage is floating around with the storm water in a green and brown sludge. It smells disgusting."

Aanathi explained to Human Rights Watch that the area where the camp is located usually floods during the rainy season: "If they don't release us before then, we will be washed away by all the water, there will be outbreaks of diseases here. It will be terrible."

The camps have already suffered from outbreaks of contagious diseases with health officials recording thousands of cases of diarrhea, hepatitis, dysentery, and chickenpox.

Observers report that camp residents are getting increasingly frustrated by the difficult conditions in the camps and that the current heavy rain caused unrest that was quickly defused by the military camp administration without the use of force. In late June, camp residents held at least two protests, which were dispersed by the security forces. Since then, the military administration of the camps, apparently fearing more unrest, has divided the camps into smaller sections, which are easier to control.

Humanitarian organizations have long advocated the release of the displaced from the camps. Many of the camp residents have relatives, including close family members, with whom they can live if they are allowed to leave. Aanathi told Human Rights Watch that she would go to live with her mother in Jaffna or her mother-in-law in Trincomalee if released.

"The camp is like a desert, there are no trees here," she told Human Rights Watch. "When it is sunny, it gets really hot. When it rains, you can't walk because of all the mud. With a 1-year old it is very difficult to move around, and I can't leave him alone in the tent. It is painful to speak about my situation here. I am lonely, very lonely. If I could go to Jaffna or Trincomalee, I would have a good life again."

The government has refused to release the displaced from the camps, contending that it needs to screen them for Tamil Tiger combatants. In response to calls to release them, Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona, recently named Sri Lanka's ambassador to the UN, told the BBC on August 10 that it was "mischievous to talk of rights in the absence of security."

On August 15, the minister of resettlement and disaster management, Rizad Bathiudeen, told the Sri Lankan Daily Mirror that he held UN agencies responsible for the flooding in the camps, saying, "[T]he Government cannot be blamed for the poor condition of the drainage systems which burst and failed."

"The government bears full responsibility for the situation in the camps," said Adams. "Locking families up in squalid conditions and then blaming aid agencies for their plight is downright shameful."