From Alert's 2011 Annual Report [7]
"We arrived as Sinhalese and Tamils, but we leave as Sri Lankans".
Participant in diaspora event
Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war ended in May 2009 with a military victory for the government. The war is over, but the task of securing long-term peace is just beginning. Rebuilding the economy and infrastructure is important. But so is healing divisions between people and creating equal economic opportunities, giving the chance for all Sri Lankans to play a role in their country’s future.
Communities living abroad – the so-called diaspora – can sometimes fuel violent conflict in the countries of their origin through their financial and ideological support to different parties to the war, and they can by the same token promote peace, reconciliation and development. In the case of the Sri Lankan conflict, some voices from all sections of the diaspora were seen as having contributed to polarisation between and within ethnic communities, hampering attempts to find alternative ways of addressing the issues.
In January, Alert [8] along with the Royal Commonwealth Society, took a group of second-generation British Sri Lankans and two British parliamentarians to visit Sri Lanka [9]. The group travelled across the island to meet with a cross-section of politicians and civil society representatives. This visit helped them improve their understanding of the complex realities on the ground and challenged their misconceptions. And it initiated an alternative dialogue in Sri Lanka itself on the potential post-war role the diaspora could play, an issue on which there had been little discussion thus far.
This was possible because post-war Sri Lanka offers new opportunities for people of all ethnic origins to get together to address their divisions. But the diaspora has been as badly divided by the conflict – if not as badly hurt – as the country itself. Before any dialogue can take place between them and Sri Lanka’s political and civil society, significant steps have to be taken for dialogue within the diaspora communities themselves.
To address this, Alert adopted a dual approach of working in Sri Lanka and in the UK, to improve understanding of the impact and significance of the diaspora on Sri Lanka’s post-war reconciliation and development. The initial aim was for the diaspora communities to improve their understanding and awareness of post-war issues to then engage in constructive dialogue with people in Sri Lanka, to identify and work on areas of common interest.
The starting point was therefore an extensive period of trust-building. Alert worked with community leaders and people from all ethnic and religious backgrounds, and with civil society and politicians both in the UK and Sri Lanka to share their experiences of post-war realities. We provided opportunities for groups to meet “the other”, to test out and challenge their perceptions in a safe, constructive environment. This process was underpinned by the first exchange visit in 2011.
Working with the One Text Initiative, a Sri Lankan-based research and dialogue group, Alert initiated a dialogue with young, first-term Sri Lankan parliamentarians on the significance and role of the diaspora in Sri Lanka’s conflict history and their potential in building a long-term peace. Sri Lankan politicians and civil society representatives visited the UK in December 2011 [10] to meet with representatives from the Muslim, Tamil and Sinhalese communities in the UK. The visit helped to confront the perceptions held in Sri Lanka of the diaspora and their interests. This week-long encounter led to considerably changed perceptions of the people involved, leading them to believe that the Sri Lankan communities abroad can play a strong peacebuilding role within Sri Lanka.
In future, Alert plans to build on this work, looking to consolidate the engagement with second-generation Sri Lankans in the UK and political actors in Sri Lanka, to strengthen activities that support economic and political reconciliation.
“The concept of engaging with the diaspora was new to us before we traveled to the UK in December 2011. The influence of diaspora can be immense. However, there is a huge communication gap between the Sri Lankan diaspora in the UK and Sri Lankans here which these exchange programmes can really help. I also feel that the government in Sri Lanka can do more as the Sri Lankan diaspora in the UK does not have real access to the country, nor the necessary links or have a reason to come to back to Sri Lanka... this is important for real engagement to start happening".
Harin Fernando, an MP of the United National Party (Opposition)
For further information, contact Mais Yacoub at myacoub@international-