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Press Trust of India /
Colombo January 31, 2013, 18:05
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A visiting British Minister today expressed
satisfaction at the progress made by Sri Lanka after the nearly three
decade-long conflict, as he visited Tamil-dominated war-ravaged areas in the
north.
"I have been pleased to see progress in
some areas since the end of the conflict. The destructive force of war–tearing
lives, families, societies and countries apart, is only too evident in this
part of the country," Alistair Burt, the British foreign office deputy
minister, said.
Burt made the comments at the northern district
of Kilinochchi. Burt is on his second Sri Lanka visit in as many years.
"It is great to see young
Sri Lankans leading efforts to heal wounds and to unite Sri Lankans of all
backgrounds in the task of reconciliation and recovery", he said.
Burt visited the Keppapilavu displaced location
site where the last bits of a near 300,000 civilians displaced at the last
stage of the military conflict three years ago are housed and expressed hope
that they would soon be able to return to their homes.
He was a guest at 'Sri Lanka Unites' centre, a
UK funded project which provides youth in the former LTTE military nerve centre
of Mullaithivu to be engaged in recreational activities through sports as well
as social media.
The British minister is the latest in a string
of foreign government representatives to tour Sri Lanka since the advent of the
new year.
Three top US State Department officials and an
Australian parliamentary delegation have just concluded their visits.
The international focus on Sri Lanka has
increased in the recent times with another key UN Human Rights Council resolution
on Sri Lanka due to be moved in the March session.
The visits assume added significance with Sri
Lanka due to host the next Commonwealth Heads of Governments (CHOGM) meeting in
November.
Canada has threatened to stay away from CHOGM
unless Sri Lanka showed progress in reconciliation efforts with the Tamil
minority.
Also some concerns have been raised by
governments over Sri Lanka's move to impeach its first woman chief justice
Shirani Bandaranayake.
She cried foul of the process leading to doubts
if the move impinged on shared commonwealth values on the independence of
judiciary.
