International Involvement in the Sri Lankan Civil War Michael Cockburn

Colonial History Portuguese landed on the island in 1505, set up a fort in the port city of Colombo Passed hands first to the Dutch, then to the British in Britain immigrated many Tamils to the island Intentionally accentuated ethnic differences

Effect of Colonialism The colonial history of Sri Lanka is important in understanding the conflict that was to come. Gave the majority Sinhalese a ‘minority’ conceptualization of self Sinhalese set out to protect their culture from encroached upon by the Tamils Cut away at Tamil rights while enshrining their own

Indian Intervention  India took a paternalist tack towards the Tamils  Provided materiel and training to groups such as the Tigers  Intervened militarily in 1987, began open conflict with the Tigers  Withdrew in 1990, Prime Minister assassinated in 1991.

Tamil Terror  Conducted over 200 suicide bombings  Invented the suicide belt in the 1980’s, Pioneered the use of women as suicide bombers  Abductions & extortions  Use mines to attack civilians  Have assassinated over 20 high profile officials

Diaspora Tamils have a vast diaspora community around the word Actively lobbied governments to support the Tamil Tigers’ cause Funded Tamil operations both willingly and unwillingly

Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Norway came to play a central role in 2002 Convinced both parties to sign a Memorandum of Understanding Started up an observation organization with other Scandinavian countries Ineffectual, allegations of biased reporting Fragile peace ended in 2006, mission was ended soon thereafter

End Game  International Community aligned behind Sri Lankan Government  Large-scale financial assistance  Sanctioning of Tamil operations  Active intelligence sharing  Large arm shipments as well as infrastructure improvements