Swiss-Tamil group calls for help in Sri Lanka
Pro-Tamil activists in Switzerland are calling on the government to step up its efforts to help promote peace and stability in Sri Lanka.
On Monday, Swiss Solidarity for Tamils, a group based in Bern with both Tamil and Swiss members, gave the Federal Chancellery a petition signed by 20,000 people asking Switzerland to help restore security to the troubled island.
“The 20,000 signatures are a sign of the deep concern and sympathy of the Swiss people for the fate of the Tamils in Sri Lanka and their relatives who live in Switzerland,” the group said in a statement.
In particular, the group is urging federal authorities to help international aid organisations like the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross, to get access to all refugee camps.
The group also calls for Switzerland to help preserve human rights in Sri Lanka, investigate war crimes there, help remove landmines, repatriate refugees and work to introduce a sustainable democratic model that guarantees minority rights.
The defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels by Sri Lankan government forces in May left thousands dead, and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.
More than 40,000 Tamils currently live in Switzerland.
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