5 things I learnt last Sunday

Earlier in the year John visited refugee camps in Tamil Nadu as a part of his work with Act for Peace and last Sunday we were fortunate to hear from John about this.  I found the content of John’s reflection very interesting: there was much that captured me. Now, nearly a week later I am remembering what stood out for me from all that John shared with us.  For me, there were five things.

1.  that there are about 68,000 refuges living in 110 camps in various parts of Tamil Nadu, India.  The first camps appeared soon after the war in Sri Lanka began in 1983. There is movement in and out of the camps and there are refugees also, who live outside of the camps. Perhaps almost half as many as do live in camps.

2. I learned a little about the living conditions in these camps.  Some people live in tents. Others in shed type buildings with thatched roofs.   Because of the danger of fire in the living quarters most cooking is done outside.  Toilet facilities are not really adequate, and those that are there are only for women and children, with men being expected to go outside of the camp.  Women can be particularly vulnerable in the camps from sexual violence and domestic abuse. Repaying debts to moneylenders can also make lives for some families very difficult. Many who live in the camps wish to return to Sri Lanka when it is safe for them to do so.  Some have been able to do this, and have been able to accomplish much in the rebuilding of their homeland.  But there are some who have had the disappointment of having to return to the refugee camp after discovering from experience that it is still not safe for them in Sri Lanka.  Obtaining necessary documents for children to apply for Sri Lankan citizenship so that families can voluntarily return to Sri Lanka is not an easy task.

There are also many positive aspects to living in the camps: there is a range of services, access to health and education services, as well as information, sporting facilities, empowerment groups and it is relatively safe.  The camps are somewhat integrated into the wider Tamil Nadu community.

3.  It has been important to the refugee community to ‘give back’ to the Indian community that neighbour the camps.  Refugees from Sri Lanka did a lot to help clean up after the devastating 2004 tsunami, where they were unhindered by the Indian caste system which constrained many Indians.  The refugees have been self determining and through assistance from aid organisations have been able to train many volunteers  as health workers, women empowerment workers and teachers and these skills have been used not only in the camps but in the wider community as well.

4. Act for Peace, the organisation that John works for, is just one partner who works with OfERR (Organisation for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation). OfERR works  to  improve the well being of Tamil refugees in India and aims to enable people to develop further skills that will contribute significantly to their social and economic well being, both while in refuge in India but also in preparation for returning to their homeland.  One of the things that Act for Peace has done is to bring people in to train trainers  (particularly in the areas of health, education and empowerment for women).  During this trip that John was part of, Act for Peace’s role was to deliver protection training.  This training is designed to give people skills to make better decisions in difficult situations: determining capacity by evaluating risks.  We also learned of some of the risks – the threats and vulnerabilities Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu face or could face if different decisions are made in the future. Being able to estimate and consider risk is essential in making decisions about if and when to leave a refugee camp to move somewhere else.

5.  Sri Lankan asylum seekers are unfairly disadvantaged by Australia’s screening process.  Basically, the Government says “the war finished in 2009, it is safe for you to go home”.  For many it is not safe yet there is no process currently where people from Sri Lanka can have their individual case assessed.  Given our Government’s harsh policies towards asylum seekers in general, and the huge amount of money being spent on ‘stopping the boats’ it would be good if  more resources were put into helping war torn countries rebuild. More resources put into providing livelihoods and human security in those countries where people are fleeing would be more productive than border protection campaigns.  Challenging our government on these things is something we can do!

More information can be found from the websites below:
OfERR  http://www.oferr.org
Act For Peace  http://www.actforpeace.org.au/   Page 9 of the 2013 Act for Peace National Council of Churches Annual Report (Found under the ‘What we do’ tab) has more information on the work in Tamil Nadu and more about protection work is contained in pages 17-18
Australian Churches Refugees Taskforce (ACRT) http://www.australianchurchesrefugeetaskforce.com.au/

Photos from Act for Peace and OfERR websites

Disclaimer:  if there is inaccurate information in these ‘5 things I learnt’, that is my fault and it means I misheard or misunderstood or made inaccurate assumptions and I will be pleased to amend my post and increase my learning.