Sri Lanka Safe?

Sama

I read this this morning and am wondering about the REAL buzz from IMers in the know, not the media buzz...

I was thinking of visiting Kandy in March....I know that's not near where the fighting is, but.....

More Sri Lanka Tamils flee to India fearing war

CHENNAI, India (Reuters) - A new group of Sri Lankan Tamils has landed on the Indian coast claiming they are fleeing war in the island nation, police said on Sunday.

The group of 10 arrived by boat near the famous pilgrim town of Rameswaram, about 550 kms south of Chennai, capital of southern Tamil Nadu state, late on Saturday evening.

They said they were fleeing escalated violence between the government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in northeast Lanka, police said.

Another boat carrying five people came early on Saturday after the first wave in which 33 Tamils came in two batches on Thursday and Friday.

Almost all the refugees are from Sri Lanka's Mannar coastal villages, police said.

"They say more than 3,000 more are waiting in Mannar to cross into Tamil Nadu in view of the violence," said V. Subramanian, a senior police officer at Rameswaram.

Sri Lanka is in the grip of the fear of a return to a war that killed more than 64,000 people before a truce in 2002.

Deadly attacks have taken place in recent weeks with suspected Tigers killing nine sailors in a mine ambush in the north on Thursday. Similar ambushes killed 39 military personnel in December - many in Mannar.

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bijapuri

the article pretty much sums it up.

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PeakXV

That just about makes up my mind .... got a fear of big cats anyway!

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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

camelgirl

Uh oh. .... we're leaving for Sri Lanka in 16 days having decided that after waiting many years for the fighting to end and the truce still being in place, officially anyway, that it was now or never. We are definitely worried about what's going on and will certainly stay away from the north, but if we feel it isn't safe to be there, we will hop a plane to India, only returning to Colombo for our return flight to the USA--if that's possible. We will be in Sri Lanka for a month and we really hope it's OK. Maybe I will post something on IM after we get there.

Sama

yes, camelgirl, please post what is going on. A buddhist monk told me (he is from Kandy) that there is no fighting around that area, not to worry, but I don't know......

I read another source that said the same thing, people leaving Sri Lanka for India. I was really thinking of spending about 5 days in Kandy.

edwardseco

Even during past troubles very little impact on tourists occurred. One incident of one wounded by a bomb and that is all I recall..

camelgirl

Kandy is definitely on our must-see list and I will attempt to get onto IM once we get going with our trip. The news always seems worse when you are far away and better once you are at a place. Or at least you don't really notice what's going on. I'm more anxious about the loooooong plane ride! We are doing a 3 day stopover in Singapore because Singapore Airlines offers a great stopover package deal. We also got a very, very good deal on the flight ($1,000 round trip New York (JFK) to Frankfort to Singapore to Colombo)

Sama

http://www.tamilnet.com/


found this site re latest news in Sri Lanka

phobal

It'll be a matter of time before the State Department issues a travel advisory for Sri Lanka.

You mean the war between the Tamil Tigers rebel group and the state that's resulted in 60 000 + deaths?

sirensongs

I will reiterate what others have said: SL is safe outside the Tamil-controlled areas. Notice that all the attacks are on security forces and they are in the North and East, with occasional disturbances in Colombo. Colombo is a crappy town anyway; unless you like beaches, all the best things to see in SL are in the Hill Country and the Ancient Cities. These are far from the troubles. Yogagal, March is fairly hot in Kandy (was there last March) but it's a great gateway to Nilambe Meditation center and the Hill country, which are always cool and verdant.

AFAIK there is never any fighting in the Kandy and Hill Country areas. Certainly when I was there they were totally shanti.

Nutshell: Go, stay in the center, make day trips to ancient cities; minimize time in Colombo.

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Sama

woo-hoo! thanks! finally some common sense advice!

Sama

Sri Lankan Tamils trickling into south India
By Indo Asian News Service

Chennai, Jan 20 (IANS) Fearing war, Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka are once again fleeing to India. Although the number of those who have landed by boats on Tamil Nadu's coast from northern and northwestern Sri Lanka in the past month is just 68, activists here fear the total could go up.

The fleeing Tamils are accusing Sri Lankan security forces of harassing them and fear a renewed conflict between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).


'They say there is going to be a big war, but we do not think so,' said M. Sakkariyas of the Chennai-based Organisation for Eelam Refugee Rehabilitation, or OFERR, an NGO.


'We don't think there is any necessity for people to cross over at this time. We don't think either side wants a war now in Sri Lanka.'


Thousands of Tamils fled Sri Lanka following violence against the community in 1983 there. Many took refuge in Tamil Nadu. Sympathy for the Sri Lankan Tamils then ran high in the state, which is where Tamil militant groups from the island were also based.


But the LTTE's killing of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, near Chennai, eroded that sympathy.


'It is possible tension is being created (in Sri Lanka) ahead of two high profile visits,' OFERR head S.C. Chandrahaasan said, referring to the expected journey to Colombo by US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns and Norwegian special envoy Erik Solheim.


'It (refugee arrivals) will stop by the month end,' his colleague Sakkariyas claimed.


According to Indian authorities, the refugees started trickling once the LTTE began targeting Sri Lankan security forces last month. The latest batch to land on Tamil Nadu's shores numbered 15.


Some others, however, say this is just the beginning and that the trickle could turn into a flood if war breaks out in Sri Lanka, where a 2002 ceasefire between the LTTE and the government has come under serious strain. Already Tamil Nadu is home to some 55,000 Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka who never went back home. Nearly 3,000 people have been repatriated from the state to Sri Lanka by the UNHRC.


'We wanted the Indian government to enter into an agreement with the Sri Lankan government so that repatriation could be well organised,' said Chandrahaasan, who himself is a Sri Lankan Tamil. 'We did not want people to return as individuals or in small groups.'


Even some of those who had gone back to Sri Lanka are returning to India, OFERR says.


'There are two unofficial groups who have come in but have not reported to the (Indian) authorities,' Chandrahasan said.