Protecting whom? The UNHCR in Sri Lanka, 1987-1997

Round Table

Volumn , Issue 348, 1998, Pages 521-541

  Kendle, Andrew Bruce ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION; PEACEKEEPING; REFUGEES; UNITED NATIONS;

SRI LANKA;

EID: 0031787672     PISSN: 00358533     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00358539808454445     Document Type: Article

References (119)

1. E. Valentine Daniel and Yuvaraj Thangaraj, 'Forms, formations, and transformations of the Tamil refugee', in E. Valentine Daniel and John Chr. Knudsen (eds), Mistrusting Refugees, University of California Press, Berkeley, LA, London 1995, p 228.
2. For more on the July 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom in Sri Lanka, and its aftermath, see the following: Rajan Hoole et al, The Broken Palmyra: The Tamil Crisis in Sri Lanka - An Inside Account, The Sri Lanka Studies Institute, Claremont, CA, 1990, chapters 4 and 5; 'Political economy of ethnic violence in Sri Lanka: the July 1983 riots', by Sunil Bastian; and 'July 1983: the survivor's experience', by Valli Kanapathipillai, in Veena Das (ed), Mirrors of Violence: Communities, Riots and Survivors in South Asia. Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1992 [1990]; and Michael Roberts, Exploring Confrontation: Sri Lanka: Politics, Culture and History, Harwood Academic Publishers, Switzerland, 1994, chapters 13 and 14.
3. For more on the July 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom in Sri Lanka, and its aftermath, see the following: Rajan Hoole et al, The Broken Palmyra: The Tamil Crisis in Sri Lanka - An Inside Account, The Sri Lanka Studies Institute, Claremont, CA, 1990, chapters 4 and 5; 'Political economy of ethnic violence in Sri Lanka: the July 1983 riots', by Sunil Bastian; and 'July 1983: the survivor's experience', by Valli Kanapathipillai, in Veena Das (ed), Mirrors of Violence: Communities, Riots and Survivors in South Asia. Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1992 [1990]; and Michael Roberts, Exploring Confrontation: Sri Lanka: Politics, Culture and History, Harwood Academic Publishers, Switzerland, 1994, chapters 13 and 14.
4. For more on the July 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom in Sri Lanka, and its aftermath, see the following: Rajan Hoole et al, The Broken Palmyra: The Tamil Crisis in Sri Lanka - An Inside Account, The Sri Lanka Studies Institute, Claremont, CA, 1990, chapters 4 and 5; 'Political economy of ethnic violence in Sri Lanka: the July 1983 riots', by Sunil Bastian; and 'July 1983: the survivor's experience', by Valli Kanapathipillai, in Veena Das (ed), Mirrors of Violence: Communities, Riots and Survivors in South Asia. Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1992 [1990]; and Michael Roberts, Exploring Confrontation: Sri Lanka: Politics, Culture and History, Harwood Academic Publishers, Switzerland, 1994, chapters 13 and 14.
5. For more on the July 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom in Sri Lanka, and its aftermath, see the following: Rajan Hoole et al, The Broken Palmyra: The Tamil Crisis in Sri Lanka - An Inside Account, The Sri Lanka Studies Institute, Claremont, CA, 1990, chapters 4 and 5; 'Political economy of ethnic violence in Sri Lanka: the July 1983 riots', by Sunil Bastian; and 'July 1983: the survivor's experience', by Valli Kanapathipillai, in Veena Das (ed), Mirrors of Violence: Communities, Riots and Survivors in South Asia. Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1992 [1990]; and Michael Roberts, Exploring Confrontation: Sri Lanka: Politics, Culture and History, Harwood Academic Publishers, Switzerland, 1994, chapters 13 and 14.
6. Court Robinson, 'Sri Lanka; island of refugees', US Committee for Refugees 1991, p 9.
7. For more on this point see M. R. Narayan Swamy, Tigers of Lanka: from Boys to Guerrillas, Konark Publishers, New Delhi, 1994, chapter 9; and Rohan Gunaratna, Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka, South Asian Network on Conflict Research, Colombo, 1993, chapter 7.
8. For more on this point see M. R. Narayan Swamy, Tigers of Lanka: from Boys to Guerrillas, Konark Publishers, New Delhi, 1994, chapter 9; and Rohan Gunaratna, Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka, South Asian Network on Conflict Research, Colombo, 1993, chapter 7.
9. The title of this section, as well as the inspiration behind it, owes much to an article by Andrew Shacknove, 'From asylum to containment', International Journal of Refugee Law, Vol 3, No 4, 1993.
10. Aristide R. Zollberg et al, Escape from Violence: Conflict and the Refugee Crisis in the Developing World, Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, 1989, pp 21-27.
11. United Nations, Human Rights: A Compilation of International Instruments -Volume I (Second Part), Universal Instruments, United Nations, New York and Geneva, 1994, p 661.
12. Although the UNHCR was initially granted only a three-year mandate (1951 to 1954), the General Assembly has subsequently chosen to re-approve the UNHCR's mandate whenever it has come up for renewal.
13. The Refugee Convention entered into force on 22 April 1954, after six countries had ratified it.
14. The difference being that the Refugee Convention added 'membership of a particular social group' to the definition of a refugee that existed in the Statute of the UNHCR.
15. Barbara E. Harrell-Bond, 'Repatriation under what conditions is it the most desirable solution for refugees?: an agenda for research', African Studies Review, Vol 32, No 1, 1989, p 49.
16. Escape from Violence, p 28.
17. Ibid, pp 29, 289 (note 98).
18. Beyond Borders, p 26.
19. Escape from Violence, chapter 10; Malcolm Rodgers, 'Refugees and international aid: Sri Lanka: a case study' (paper presented at the Conference on Refugees and International Aid convened by UNHCR and ILO in Geneva, 6-8 May 1992), pp 9-11.
20. 'Repatriation ...', p 55.
21. Ibid, p 50.
22. Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka, p 491.
23. Refugees and international aid ...', p 11.
24. Ibid, p 11.
25. Ibid, p 11, 'Sri Lanka: island of refugees', p 14.
26. Sri Lanka Monitor, No 1, February 1988.
27. 'Sri Lanka: island of refugees', p 15.
28. Ibid, p 15.
29. According to Court Robinson ('Sri Lanka: Island of Refugees', pp 15, 16), '... one UNHCR field officer in Sri Lanka told USCR, "We would ask them [the returnees], 'Did you volunteer to return from India?' [Reply:] 'No.' 'Do you want to go back to India?' [Reply:) 'No.''"
30. Sri Lanka Monitor, No 1, February 1988.
31. 'Sri Lanka: island of refugees', p 16.
32. B. S. Chimni, 'The legal condition of refugees in India', Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol 7, No 4, 1994, pp 384, 385.
33. According to The Sri Lankan Monitor, No 1, February 1988, 'Sri Lankan refugees in India ... cost New Delhi over ten million rupees a month in cash maintenance payments [at that time].'
34. Sri Lanka Monitor, No 5, June 1988.
35. Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka, chapter 8; and Tigers of Lanka, chapter 10.
36. Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka, chapter 8; and Tigers of Lanka, chapter 10.
37. Tamil Refugee Action Group, 'Journey into peril: repatriation of Tamil asylum seeker', Report No 1, May 1989, p 3.
38. There has been a UNHCR branch office in New Delhi since February 1969, but it had nothing to do with Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu.
39. 'Journey into peril ...', p 5.
40. During this period, the IPKF fought the LTTE in the north and east, while the Sri Lankan armed forces and government-backed death squads grappled with the Sinhalese-based Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in the south of the country.
41. 'Journey into peril ...', p 5.
42. 'Refugees and international aid ...', p 14.
43. The Sri Lanka Monitor, No 4, May 1988.
44. Ibid.
45. 'Refugees and international aid ...', p 14.
46. 'Refugees and international aid ...', p 14; The Sri Lanka Monitor, Vol 2, No 8, November 1989.
47. 'Refugees and international aid ...', p 14; The Sri Lanka Monitor, Vol 2, No 8, November 1989.
48. The Sri Lanka Monitor, Vol 2, No 10, January 1990.
49. 'Sri Lanka: island of refugees', p 17.
50. Ibid, p 17.
51. Ibid, p 17.
52. Ibid, p 17.
53. Ibid, p 17.
54. The Sri Lanka Monitor, No 29, June 1990; and No 30, July 1990; 'Refugees and international aid ...', p 15.
55. The Sri Lanka Monitor, No 29, June 1990; and No 30, July 1990; 'Refugees and international aid ...', p 15.
56. The Sri Lanka Monitor, No 29, June 1990; and No 30, July 1990; 'Refugees and international aid ...', p 15.
57. 'Refugees and international aid ...', p 15.
58. Ibid, p 15.
59. The Sri Lanka Monitor, No 30, July 1990; No 31, August 1990.
60. The Sri Lanka Monitor, No 30, July 1990; No 31, August 1990.
61. The Sri Lanka Monitor, No 32, September 1990.
62. 'Sri Lanka: island of refugees', p 24.
63. W. D. Clarence, 'Open relief centres: a pragmatic approach to emergency relief and monitoring during conflict in a country of origin', International Journal of Refugee Law, Vol 3, No 2, 1991, p 323; The Sri Lanka Monitor, No 32, September 1990, and No 33, October 1990.
64. W. D. Clarence, 'Open relief centres: a pragmatic approach to emergency relief and monitoring during conflict in a country of origin', International Journal of Refugee Law, Vol 3, No 2, 1991, p 323; The Sri Lanka Monitor, No 32, September 1990, and No 33, October 1990.
65. 'Refugees and international aid ...', p 29, note 49.
66. Here, I am referring to Court Robinson, 'Sri Lanka: island of refugees', and Karin Landgren, 'Safety zones and international protection: a dark grey area', International Journal of Refugee Law, Vol 7, No 3. 1995, pp 451-453.
67. Here, I am referring to Court Robinson, 'Sri Lanka: island of refugees', and Karin Landgren, 'Safety zones and international protection: a dark grey area', International Journal of Refugee Law, Vol 7, No 3. 1995, pp 451-453.
68. UNHCR, The State of the World's Refugees: The Challenge of Protection, Penguin Books, New York, London, 1993, pp 26, 27.
69. Ibid, pp 9-11.
70. Within the UN, for example, it could have passed things on to the World Food Programme or the United Nations Development Programme, while prominent non-governmental organizations the UNHCR could have transferred its operations to what would have been the ICRC and Medecins sans Frontieres.
71. 'Open relief centres ...', p 323.
72. 'Sri Lanka: island of refugees', p 24.
73. 'UNHCR's operational experience with internally displaced persons: a preliminary review', p 33. Since November 1990, the Indian Navy has managed to keep mass refugee flows from Sri Lanka under control. The Sri Lankan Navy and LTTE exit restrictions have also had a lot to do with this process in recent years. In other words, while some people still make it to Tamil Nadu, the numbers are no longer in the tens of thousands as they were earlier in the conflict.
74. 'UNHCR's operational experience ...', p 33.
75. Ibid, p 30.
76. The Sri Lanka Monitor, No 37, February 1991, and No 38, March 1991.
77. The Sri Lanka Monitor, No 37, February 1991, No 38, March 1991, No 40, May 1991; and Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka, pp 451, 452. According to most observers, the LTTE chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran, ordered Rajiv Gandhi to be killed because it appeared as if he was going to win the Indian elections and become Prime Minister again. This possibility was allegedly something that Prabhakaran and the rest of the Tiger leadership feared because it seemed that Gandhi was interested in reviving the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord of 1987 and, thus, Indian intervention in Sri Lanka.
78. The Sri Lanka Monitor, No 37, February 1991, No 38, March 1991, No 40, May 1991; and Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka, pp 451, 452. According to most observers, the LTTE chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran, ordered Rajiv Gandhi to be killed because it appeared as if he was going to win the Indian elections and become Prime Minister again. This possibility was allegedly something that Prabhakaran and the rest of the Tiger leadership feared because it seemed that Gandhi was interested in reviving the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord of 1987 and, thus, Indian intervention in Sri Lanka.
79. 'Refugees and international aid', p 15.
80. Ibid, p 15.
81. Apparently, the 'delays' were caused by the Sri Lankan government not wanting to look as if it had been forced by India to accept the programme, and the fact that Sri Lankan officials were, in effect, 'shopping around' for the most lucrative aid package that they could get from the international community. For example, see 'Refugees and international aid ...', p 20.
82. 'Refugees and international aid ...', p 18.
83. 'Background paper on Sri Lankan refugees and asylum seekers', UNHCR Centre for Documentation and Research, November 1994, p 4. Although this agreement was only signed by the UNHCR and the Indian government, the Sri Lankan government went along with it in practice. In February 1993, this process was formalized when the UNHCR and the Sri Lankan government signed a Memorandum of Understanding about the responsibilities each side had for the provision of aid to returnees from India.
84. 'Halt repatriation of Sri Lankan Tamils', Asia Watch: A Division of Human Rights Watch, Vol 5, Issue 11, August 1993, pp 4, 5.
85. Ibid.
86. 'Minutes of UNHCR/NGO Meeting on Sri Lanka held in Geneva on 29/9/93 from 2.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.', p 2.
87. 'Minutes of UNHCR/NGO Meeting ...', p2.
88. Ibid, p 3.
89. The Sri Lanka Monitor, No 65, June 1993.
90. 'The legal condition of refugees in India', p 398.
91. The State of the World's Refugees, pp 103, 160.
92. According to a member of a London-based refugee organization I interviewed on 26 June 1997, the UNHCR has shown itself in recent years to be guided by '19th century mercantilist principles'. In short, whenever an opportunity for the organization to expand its operations has presented itself, the UNHCR has usually taken advantage of the situation, irregardless of what the consequences might be.
93. 'The Legal Condition of Refugees in India', p 398.
94. Ibid, pp 397, 398; Refugees: Human Rights Have No Borders, Amnesty International, 1997 (as taken from AI's website: www.amnesty.org), Appendix II.
95. Ibid, pp 397, 398; Refugees: Human Rights Have No Borders, Amnesty International, 1997 (as taken from AI's website: www.amnesty.org), Appendix II.
96. HCR/fra/0578 (UNHCR, Geneva: 25 June 1992).
97. Ibid.
98. Ibid.
99. The Sri Lanka Monitor, No 57, October 1992.
100. Ibid.
101. Ibid.
102. Ibid.
103. Christopher McDowell, A Tamil Asylum Diaspora: Sri Lankan Migration, Settlement and Politics in Switzerland, Berghahn, Providence, RI and Oxford, 1996, p 9.
104. Ibid, p 61.
105. 'Re telcon Schack/Utkan of 26 November on rejected asylum seekers'. UNHCR, Colombo: 1 December 1993, p 3.
106. 'Information note on UNHCR position concerning Sri Lankan Asylum Seekers in Europe and North America'. UNHCR, Geneva: 16 June 1993, p 2.
107. A Tamil Asylum Diaspora, p 61.
108. Ibid, p 61.
109. Ibid, p 61.
110. 'The time is not yet ripe!': clarification concerning the repatriation of Tamil asylum-seekers: short report - OSAR Delegation, 6-20 March 1994 to Sri Lanka. OSAR, Caritas Schweiz, SRC: Zurich, Lucerne, Berne, April 1994.
111. The Sri Lanka Monitor, No 77, June 1994.
112. Ibid.
113. Ibid.
114. On 29 October 1997, the BBC Monitoring Service noted that the Sri Lankan and Netherlands governments had signed an agreement to repatriate more than 10 000 Sri Lankan asylum seekers. Although this development is troubling, at the time of writing, it was too early to say whether or not this agreement will definitely lead to the mass repatriation of Sri Lankan Tamils in Europe.
115. 'UNHCR information update on Sri Lanka'. UNHCR, Geneva: 9 September 1996, p 1.
116. Protection denied: Sri Lankan Tamils, the Home Office and the forgotten civil war'. British Refugee Council, February 1997, p 9.
117. Ibid, p 26. For more on the detention and torture of Tamils in Colombo and elsewhere in 1996, see Amnesty International's 'Sri Lanka: Wavering Commitment to Human Rights', London: August 1996, and Inform's Situation Report, Colombo: January-December 1996.
118. Ibid, p 26. For more on the detention and torture of Tamils in Colombo and elsewhere in 1996, see Amnesty International's 'Sri Lanka: Wavering Commitment to Human Rights', London: August 1996, and Inform's Situation Report, Colombo: January-December 1996.
119. Ibid, p 26. For more on the detention and torture of Tamils in Colombo and elsewhere in 1996, see Amnesty International's 'Sri Lanka: Wavering Commitment to Human Rights', London: August 1996, and Inform's Situation Report, Colombo: January-December 1996.