Although the MR-govt has identified the problem, activists say it lacks the commitment to help Tamil women to rebuild their lives!50,000 widows in EP!

Plight of Sri Lanka's war widows

By Saroj Pathirana
BBC Sinhala service

Widow Vadivel Shanthi has to care for her family with little money
"My husband was a fisherman. About three years ago, when he returned from a fishing trip, somebody checked his identity card and shot him dead," says Jeyarulai Puwanendran, weeping.

The single mother, 23, is a resident of Kiran, Batticaloa, in Sri Lanka's eastern region.

"I have a four-year-old daughter. I don't get help from the government or anybody else. My parents are the ones who look after me and my daughter. My father is a labourer. They have six other children apart from me," she says.

Ms Puwanendran is among an estimated 33,000 women who have been widowed in Eastern Province during nearly three decades of war between the government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels.


Still suffering

Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities share almost equal representation in Eastern Province and all three communities have their share of war widows.



Decades of fighting has displaced thousands in the north and east
Similar stories can be heard all over the east. The case of 30-year-old Vadivel Shanthi, a mother of three young children in a camp for displaced people in Batticaloa, is typical.

Her family left their home in Trincomalee district after her husband, a farmer, was shot dead by unidentified people.

"One day my husband went to the paddy field but did not return. After seven days his decomposed body was found in a paddy field. I was left with no option other than to hand over two of our children to an orphanage," she says.

Women's rights activists argue that widows are still suffering despite the government recapturing the east from the Tamil Tigers more than a year ago.

Visaka Dharmadasa, of the Association of War Affected Women (AWAW) recently visited the region. She says that fear still prevails in the region and killings continue despite the fact that rebels were expelled by government forces.

The husband of 24-year-old mother Karthiga, Selvaratnam Ramesh, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at their home in Valaichchenai, Batticaloa, on 27 November.


The authorities are committed to helping thousands of widows



Basil Rajapaksa,
Sri Lankan MP
"It was about 7.30pm in the evening. I was at home with my husband. Suddenly I heard a sound like a cracker exploding. When I looked at my husband, he was on the floor with gun wounds," she said.

"My husband was a mason. We did not have a penny when he was killed. I have a seven-year-old daughter and I am now seven months pregnant. I don't know how to get on with my life," she says.

Although the government has identified the problem, activists say it lacks the commitment to help these women to rebuild their lives.

A spokeswoman for the chief minister of Eastern Province is reported to have told the AWAW that while the provincial council recognises the urgency it does not have funds to implement projects to help it.

"She expressed serious disappointment that no money was allocated, though many projects are planned to uplift the lives of these women," said AWAW spokeswoman Visaka Dharmadasa.

'Employment opportunities'

The government , however, sees things differently.


According to Nation Building Minister Susantha Punchinilame, action is being taken to help widows, the overwhelming majority of whom are under 30.

Basil Rajapaksa, the younger brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is a senior adviser to the president on a plan to provide more assistance to the bereaved women in the east.



Batticaloa and other parts of the east have been ravaged by war
"Actually this problem was only recently highlighted and we are currently conducting a study on the situation and the figures relating to widows," he says.

The government's priority is to provide employment opportunities for ex-combatants in the east, Mr Rajapaksa says.

He points out that former Tamil Tiger rebels headed by breakaway leader, Col Karuna, have now joined the governing coalition to try to put this plan into action.

"The authorities are committed to helping thousands of widows," Mr Rajapaksa says.

"We are working to help them find opportunities for self-employment, foreign jobs and jobs in the livestock and agricultural sector."

Mr Rajapaksa insists that the government is co-ordinating with the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) on development work.

"This year, for example, the EPC approved the biggest development budget from the money offered by the government and the foreign donations transferred through the government," he says.

Mr Rajapaksa says he hopes that the provincial authority will receive more funds as the EPC re-establishes a financial and tax system in the area and many currently defunct industries restart work.

But critics such as Ms Dharmadasa argue that there are few positive developments in recent months for widows in the east.

Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim widows are seriously affected by the war, she says, and are left to cope without official help.

BBC
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War widows in east nearly 50,000 –Govt. Monday, 03 May 2010 00:00
The Government of Sri Lanka revealed that around 50,000 widows are living in the eastern province alone.

Deputy Minister for Women and Child welfare M.L.A.M Hizbullah told the BBC Tamil Service that nearly forty percent of those were widowed as a result of the decades-long war between the government forces and the LTTE. Many of them are less than 40 according to the statistical survey done by the government says the minister. "This is a matter of great concern" says Minister Hizbullah, who was the women's affairs minister in the provincial government until recently.

War widows in thousands are also living in other parts of Sri Lanka as well, according to the deputy minister of women and child welfare. An expert group from India recently visited the eastern province to understand the issues faced by the war widows and apprised them of the efforts taken in India regarding similar issues. India has promised to help 1000 war widows at the first instance by offering them training in self employment schemes, according to the minister.

The government of Sri Lanka would also be interacting and seeking help from other countries and Non Governmental Organisations in this regard to take forward the rehabilitation and welfare of the war widows says Minister Hizbullah. "Lack of funds from the central government" to the eastern provincial council was an impediment in taking forward the welfare and rehabilitation schemes of these women in the past, he said. The rehabilitation of war widows needs to be fast tracked to ensure they can earn a decent livelihood, opines the junior minister in charge of such activities. "Rehabilitating the war widows financially and socially will be a mammoth task for the government," agrees Minister Hizbullah.

(BBC Tamil service)

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