COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

7 MARCH 2012 SRI LANKA
18.03 The US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report: Sri Lanka (USSD 2010) 296 ,
released on 8 April 2011 noted that: ―There were 28 Tamils and 17 Muslims in the [225seat]
parliament.‖
SINHALESE
18.04 Estimated to be between 74 per cent (CIA World Factbook, Sri Lanka 297 , updated on 27
December 2011) and 82 per cent (Sri Lankan Department of Census and Statistics,
(Statistical Abstract 2010, Chapter II, tables 2.10 - 2.11, accessed on 1 June 2011) 298 of
the total population, the Sihalese are the main ethic group in the country. They speak
Sinhala and are overwhelmingly Buddhist (Jane‘s Sentinel Country Risk Assessments,
Country Report, Sri Lanka 299 (accessed on 3 February 2012)
18.05 The ICG report Sri Lanka: Reconciliation in Sri Lanka: Harder than ever 300 , 18 July 2011
observed:
―The Sinhalese are very scared of Tamils and of the LTTE. To some degree, this is the
result of the Rajapaksa government being out ahead of the population on the ethnic
issue.
―The regime keeps the paranoia alive by constantly raising the spectre of the LTTE
organising abroad or influencing international actors, when it is quite clear that its
leadership and capacity to carry out any organised violence have been destroyed.
This culture of fear has also facilitated selective amnesia in the Sinhalese community
about the years of ethnic violence and discrimination that drove the civil war and
culminated in the government‘s devastating offensive in the Vanni.
―Convincing the Sinhalese to understand and acknowledge the suffering the Tamil
community has endured, and the complex set of responsibilities for that suffering, is one
of the biggest challenges for reconciliation in Sri Lanka.‖
296 US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report: Sri Lanka (USSD 2010), released on 8 April 2011,
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154486.htm , date accessed 11 May 2011, Section 3
297 CIA - The World Factbook – Sri Lanka
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ce.html updated on 27 December 2011
Date accessed 27 January 2012
298 Sri Lanka Department for Census and Statistics, Statistical Abstract 2010 – Chapter II (Population),
Table 2.10 http://www.statistics.gov.lk/abstract2010/chapters/Chap2/AB2-10.pdf and 2.11
http://www.statistics.gov.lk/abstract2010/chapters/Chap2/AB2-11.pdf date accessed 1 June 2011
299 Jane’s Sentinel Country Risk Assessments, Country Report, Sri Lanka,
http://sentinel.janes.com/docs/sentinel/SASS_country.jsp?Prod_Name=SASS&Sent_Country=Sri%20La
nka& [subscription only] accessed on 24 May 2011, Demography, 27 April 2011
300 International Crisis Group (ICG),Sri Lanka: Reconciliation in Sri Lanka: Harder than ever, Asia
Report N°209 – 18 July 2011, http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/asia/south-asia/srilanka/209%20Reconciliation%20in%20Sri%20Lanka%20-%20Harder%20than%20Ever.pdf,
p32, Date
accessed 6 January 2011
The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.
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