In the Church and the world
international monthly
edited by Giulio Andreotti
Extract from No. 1/ 2 - 2005
SRI LANKA
Ethnic tension and peace process in Sri Lanka
by Paolo Mattei
In the former British colony of Sri Lanka, the large island lying
south-east off the Indian coast, that became a republic in 19
A teacher while she registers some children who survived the tsunami in the town of Magalle
In the former British colony of Sri Lanka,
the large island lying south-east off the Indian coast, that became a republic
in 1972, has around 20 million inhabitants. The largest ethnic group is that of
the Sinhalese (about 74%, very largely Buddhist), followed by the Tamil (about
13%, almost all Hindu) and by the Moors (7%, Moslem). The Catholics represent
7% of the population. In the early ’eighties the ethnic tension
between the Sinhalese and Tamil separatists, the latter grouped under the aegis
of the LTTE (“Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eleam”, Tigers for the liberation of
the Tamil homeland) and concentrated in the northern provinces of the country,
led to violent civil war in which at least 64,000 people died. At the end of
2001 negotiations began that led to the signing of a ceasefire on 22 February
2002. The peace process, though stalemated since April of 2003, is still
ongoing. The tragedy of the tsunami that hit South
East Asia on 26 December last killedat least 31,000 people in Sri Lanka.
