26 February 2016

Official Information Act request

To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade,

We note that Prime Minister John Key is to visit Sri Lanka between the 24th and 26th of February 2016. In a statement released on the 17th of February 2016, the Beehive quotes Prime Minister John Key as stating the following:

"New Zealand recognises the considerable efforts the people and Government of Sri Lanka are putting into the country’s reconciliation process and we are hugely supportive of those, including through our work to boost the country’s own dairy sector to improve the livelihoods of its farmers"[1]

We also note the announcement on the 24th of February 2016 of:

“The two dairy development projects which New Zealand will support are:

• The Dairy Training Excellence Initiative, which will see smallholder Sri Lankan dairy farmers receive training on reproduction, farm economics, nutrition and safe milk handling. Around 20 master trainers and 180 extension staff will be trained by New Zealand experts to work with farmers on 3,000 Sri Lankan farms.

• An extension to the Wanni Dairy Regeneration Activity, which helps post-conflict communities in northern Sri Lanka to generate a sustainable agricultural income. The new phase of the Wanni Dairy Regeneration Activity aims to boost Sri Lankan dairy production and improve the quality of life for families across nine districts in the Northern, Eastern and North Central provinces. This project is expected to benefit 7,500 smallholder dairy households and 10,000 rural youth in the next five years. The project has been funded by the New Zealand Aid Programme in partnership with TEAR Fund NZ, QPod Systems Ltd, Patton Ltd and World Concern Development Organisation.”[2]

In this same announcement John Key is quoted as stating:

“The Sri Lankan Government is making real progress as it undertakes a significant programme of post-war reconciliation and economic reform, and the opportunities for us to work more closely together are immense,”

We would like to clarify what the New Zealand Government’s understanding of the Sri Lankan Government’s “reconciliation process” is.

1. We request all information held by the New Zealand government about the Sri Lankan Government’s “reconciliation process”, which informs the opinions stated in the paragraphs above, of the existence of “the considerable efforts…the Government of Sri Lanka [is] putting into the country’s reconciliation process” and of the Government of Sri Lanka’s “significant programme of post-war reconciliation”.

We note some details of two support programs, The Dairy Training Excellence Initiative and Wanni Dairy Regeneration Activity, are listed in the above quoted paragraphs. We also note that some details of the Wanni Dairy Regeneration Activity from 2012-5 are detailed in a public document on the MFAT website.[3] However some important aspects remain unclear such as the precise geographical locations and ethnicity of beneficiaries. With regards to this we note that a recent World Bank report finds that “In 2012/13, Sri Lankan Tamils had the highest rates of poverty among ethnic groups”[4] and that “Poverty rates are highest in portions of the Northern and Eastern provinces,
 which were most affected 
by the internal conflict. The 
high poverty headcount rates in these regions are associated with weak links to the labor market, particularly among the youth and educated women. People with physical disabilities and psychological problems due to conflict, in particular ex-combatants and widows, are particularly vulnerable to exclusion.”[5]

2. We request all information giving details of any support provided to the Sri Lankan government since the 2002 peace-process to present, or planned in the future by the New Zealand Government or other New Zealand bodies or persons that the New Zealand Government has authority over.

We note that International Crisis Group (ICG) – an organisation that has been funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade – states in their report, "Sri Lanka’s North I: The Denial of Minority Rights", that:

"The slow but undeniable movement of Sinhala settlers into the fringes of the north and other forms of government-supported “Sinhalisation” are reigniting a sense of grievance and weakening chances for a real settlement with Tamil and other minority parties to devolve power"[6]

As far as we are aware there has been no significant change to this process, despite recent elections. The presence of Sinhala settlers, alongside the large military presence in the NorthEast, which the government refuses to remove[7], creates insecurity for Tamil population, in particular women.[8] We are interested to know whether the New Zealand government has evaluated the impact of any support provided to the Sri Lankan government, on these types of issues, such as the issue of the settlement of Sinhalese settlers in the NorthEast, changing the demography and therefore in the words of ICG “weakening chances for a real settlement with Tamil[s]…to devolve power”. We also note that John Key has linked “our work to boost the country’s own dairy sector” directly to the Sri Lankan Government’s “reconciliation process”.

3. We request all documents relating to how the New Zealand Government evaluates support given to the Sri Lankan Government by the New Zealand Government or other New Zealand bodies or persons that the New Zealand Government has authority over.

Finally we also interested to know whether the Prime Minister John Key will be meeting with any Tamil representatives and Tamil civil society groups, in particular in the NorthEast.

4. We request a full itinerary and any other information detailing Prime Minister John Key’s visit to Sri Lanka in February 2016.

We thank you for your time fulfilling this request,

Regards,

Dhaya Haran
National Council of New Zealand Tamils
________________________________________
[1] https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/prim...
[2] https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/nz-a...
[3] https://www.mfat.govt.nz/assets/_secured...
[4] http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files... p.i
[5] World Bank. “Sri Lanka, Ending Poverty and Promoting Shared Prosperity” October 2015. p.26
[6] Ibid. p.15
[7] For example as reported by the official government news portal of Sri Lanka on 10 February 2016 “The State Minister [for Defence Ruwan Wijewardene] explained that the lands in the North and East Provinces will be released back to civilians in a just and fair manner … He added that there would not be a necessity to remove army camps in the North in order to release lands required by the civilians.” (http://www.news.lk/news/business/item/61...)
[8] ICG finds post-2009 "the heavily militarised and centralised control of [the NorthEast] – with almost exclusively male, Sinhalese security forces – creates serious problems for women’s safety". (Media release: Sri Lanka: Women’s Insecurity in the North and East, Colombo/Brussels, 20 Dec 2011 http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/publicatio... ). Minority Rights Group finds that "The most serious problem facing women in the north and east of Sri Lanka is the pervasive lack of security. The respondents in our research perceived that levels of insecurity for women were in fact higher since the end of the conflict." (Minority Rights Group International. 2013. Living with Insecurity: Marginalization and Sexual Violence against Women in North and East Sri Lanka. http://minorityrights.org/publications/l... p.4 and p.7). A report by Yasmin Sooka for the The International Truth & Justice Project finds "[a]bduction, arbitrary detention, torture, rape and sexual violence have increased in the post-war period" and that these "widespread and systematic violations by the Sri Lankan security forces occur in a manner that indicates a coordinated, systematic plan approved by the highest levels of government". (Yasmin Sooka, The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales and The International Truth & Justice Project, Sri Lanka. An Unfinished War: Torture and Sexual Violence in Sri Lanka 2009—2014 ). The most recent report by the same group finds that: “New evidence has emerged of on-going torture and sexual violence by the Sri Lankan security forces one year after a new government came to power promising a radical clean up. “Sadly Sri Lanka’s notorious ‘white vans' are still operating; it’s very much business as usual,” said ITJP’s Yasmin Sooka, “this demonstrates there can be no accountability without urgent security sector reform that leads to the dismantling of the state’s machinery of repression”.” (Press release: “Silenced: survivors of torture and sexual violence in 2015” 7 January 2016 http://www.itjpsl.com/ )