"EU travel ban to prevent UN involvement"

 

More than 18,000 Tamils from Germany, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Italy and United Kingdom participated in the protest rally on the EU decision - travel ban on the LTTE. This was held in the Belgium capital Brussels on Monday 24 October 2005, in pouring rain at the square of the European Commission. It started at 12 noon with traditional Tamil Natheswaram.

There were many speakers, including from India and Tamil Eelam.

Mr. Visuvalingam Kirubaharan of the Tamil Centre for Human Rights in France was one of the speakers. He said in his speech that : "The European Union has brought this ban against the LTTE in order to prevent the United Nations getting involved in the Tamils' issue in Sri Lanka!" He further stated that, "as the Eelam Tamils have been used in the island, to rains of bullets in the past, the pouring rain in Brussels is nothing for the demonstrators".

Kirubaharan said that "We have being knocking at the doors of the International community for a very long time, but they were sound asleep. Now it is good to see that the International community has awoken from their slumbers, but they have got up with a dream! Today we have assembled here to tell the truth and the ground reality to the international community."

"In 1998, we the Tamil Centre for Human Rights had a meeting inside the European parliament. The late Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam was the key speaker. During this meeting a British citizen, an official working in the European Parliament, told us that "the Sri Lankan Tamils' political problem has to be solved within the Commonwealth because if this issue goes to the United Nations, there are many countries that are supportive of you and there are certain countries which have positive ideas to your side. As he thought, for some reasons, the Commonwealth could not get involved in our issues. After seven years of many positive developments, there are general signals that this issue may enter the United Nations. Those who are not for the UN involvements have brought the travel ban on the LTTE. This is purely to prevent the United Nations having second thoughts, if they have an idea of getting involved in this issue."

"Has the EU considered any ground realities before they introduced the travel ban on the LTTE? Has the EU considered that, over 79,000 Tamil people have been killed? Have they considered that 50% of the Tamil Eelam lands were colonised with Sinhalese? Has the EU considered that in July 1977, the Tamil people in the North East overwhelmingly voted to establish and exercise the right to self-determination? Has the EU considered that in the April 2004 General elections in the North East, the Tamils overwhelmingly voted to say that the LTTE is their sole and authentic representative?

Mr. Kirubaharan who spoke in Tamil, English and French, said further that "the EU decision of 27 September 2005 is against a party to the peace process, and a party to the Ceasefire Agreement in Sri Lanka and the EU's partial and discriminatory decision will encourage the government of Sri Lanka to find a military solution to the ethnic conflict. Also it will pave the way for more bloodbaths, loss of lives and further destruction in the island."

He concluded by saying that "placing the facts before the people of Europe and the UK, we are urgently demanding the European Union that the decision of the 27 September 2005 should be reconsidered and overturned". 28-10-2005 http://www.tamilinfoservice.com/