JAMES NACHTWEY—VII FOR TIME

FLARE-UP: Relief efforts in Sri Lanka have been hampered by domestic political rivalries

Ethnic Division
	An Uneasy Peace
	By Aravind Adiga | Kudathanai

Posted Monday, January 10, 2005; 20:00 HKT
For five days, the refugee camp at the American Mission Tamil Mixed School in Kudathanai was proof that the tsunami might bring together Sri Lanka's warring Tamils and Sinhalese. Then someone set fire to it.

After the waters washed away their homes on the coast, 67 families of Tamil fishermen fled to the school in the northern region of Jaffna, where they were given food and water by the local army camp, an extraordinary gesture of goodwill in a country riven by 21 years of civil war. "I told my men they might have to give up their own food," says Colonel Jayasekara, who is in charge of the army camp, "but the refugees had to be taken care of."

Today, the school is deserted, and the 270 refugees have decamped to a half-built church. "We're absolutely terrified," says K. Jayakumar, a 29-year-old fisherman. "First we had to run from the water and now we've had to run from fire." A shed at the refugee camp that held their belongings was torched, and the ground is littered with what's left: burnt mats, dolls, plastic bottles.

Following the tsunami, Sri Lanka saw an outpouring of goodwill from both the government and Tamil guerrillas who have been fighting for an independent country in Sri Lanka's north and east. President Chandrika Kumaratunga invited the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (L.T.T.E.) to join in an official relief-coordination committee—and even shook the hand of a female L.T.T.E. member in Trincomalee. Senior rebel leaders said they wanted to work with the government.

Everyone recognized the crisis in the northeast was grave: Tamil-dominated areas have borne nearly two-thirds of Sri Lanka's 30,000 fatalities. The northeast is divided into areas controlled by the rebels or the government; officials and Tamil Tigers began coordinating food and water for the thousands of refugees crowded into camps. "Everyone is doing their best to work with everyone else," says Richard Barkle, a UNHCR official in Jaffna.

But it's not happening in Kudathanai. The trouble began when army soldiers arrived on New Year's Day with a specially cooked meal, which the refugees refused to eat. The soldiers soon discovered why: an L.T.T.E. member was inside the school and "told us not to accept food from the army," recollects Jayakumar. The soldiers got angry, and a scuffle followed between some troops and the Tamil Tiger member. The refugees say three of them were also beaten up by soldiers. Then, they claim, troops surrounded the school and began loading their guns. "We were frightened out of our minds," a refugee recalls. "We began screaming." The soldiers left and the refugees ran to the nearby church. That night, the school's shed was doused with petrol and set on fire. The army and local Tamil Tiger sympathizers accuse each other of starting the blaze. The refugees are too scared to say whom they suspect. ("If we tell you, and you print our names, the men who did this will come back and beat us," says one. Jayakumar insisted that his family name not be revealed. "Please, sir," he told a TIME reporter. "I am a father of five.")

Colonel Jayasekara didn't deny that a scuffle took place, but he says his soldiers acted in self-defense. For at least five days, the army refused to deliver food to the church. The colonel said the refugees were free to come to the army camp and collect it. But local Tamil Tiger officials warned them to accept nothing from the army, and provided them with food. The refugees say they have enough to eat, but add: "Tell the army that if they bring food over, our children would be very happy to take it. They sometimes want more." The fishermen say they are no longer receiving medical aid—some are suffering from a high, recurrent fever, possibly malaria. "Life has become worse for us ever since we had to leave the school," says Jayakumar.

Thaya Master, an L.T.T.E. spokesman, says his organization will never tell anyone not to accept government aid. On the ground, however, the Tamil Tigers' relief attempts are often overseen by hotheaded young men who sometimes do exactly that. Sister Roshanti, a nun at the Carmel Convent in Jaffna who is helping out with the relief efforts, says that it's not the official L.T.T.E. workers but "troublemakers"—young men who are strongly opposed to the Sri Lankan army's presence in Jaffna—who are telling people not to cooperate with the army or the government. "We are a broken people," she says. "This is the last thing we need." Agrees fisherman Jayakumar. "We deserve some peace after all we have been through."

	In the Wake of Tragedy [Jan. 10, 2005] On the morning of Dec. 26, an earthquake off Sumatra was followedby a massive tsunami. Asia's suffering touched the world Tallying the Damage [Jan. 10, 2005] Asia's engine room wasn't swamped, but the waves wiped out countless jobs and rebuilding may take years Europe: Lost In The Waves [Jan. 10, 2005] The tsunami engulfed Europe too, as millions grieved for those caught in its maw and looked for ways to help After The Flood [Jan. 10, 2005] With disease looming, the world launches a massive relief effort. Will the aid reach the victims in time? How To Help [Jan. 10, 2005] A guide to donating and how to contact relief organizations on the ground More Related Items | Search all issues of TIME Magazine