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As the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have virtually lost the war against Sri Lankan forces, pressure is mounting on the government to address the humanitarian problem brought about by the conflict. From all over the country people have been sending food, clothes and other relief items for the people in the no-fire zone, which is under the control of the LTTE.

The generous donations from all communities clearly indicate that people do not view the situation as the conquest of one people by another, but rather the consequence of tragic political mistakes made by Sri Lanka over time.

People are looking for an end to all such tragic mistakes, and a way to deal with all problems in a rational and humane manner. Commitments to support a proper end to the hostilities and support for the unfortunate victims of the prolonged conflict are also coming from India, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and many other countries.

According to government estimates, over 100,000 persons have left the narrow passage of land called the no-fire zone. Satellite pictures of the conditions under which they have lived show small tents, erected in sandy soil on beaches with little sanitary or other facilities. People have now left these camps and will reach other camps – where they will live in tents and schools – under the control of the Sri Lankan military.

The conditions in the new camps may be comparatively better, but it should not be forgotten that these people are joining vast numbers of others who have been displaced for a long period of time. Therefore, the obligation on Sri Lanka as a state is to develop strategies to rehabilitate all such persons within the shortest possible period in their natural habitat so that they and their families can resume their lives and be integrated into the Sri Lanka polity once again.

More difficult than fighting a war is building peace. But peace means very little to ordinary folks in the Tamil community who have to continue living in tents, schools and other such temporary places. Bringing this displacement to an end is an enormous obligation on the state of Sri Lanka.

Under such circumstances it is natural for the international community to provide substantial assistance to all displaced persons. Similar situations throughout the world have brought responses of great magnitude; it is therefore natural to expect that support will be extended to these people.

Bringing displaced persons back to a normal human habitat involves political and social strategies of a very complex nature. However difficult the problems may be, Sri Lankan people of all communities possess the skills, intelligence, resources and compassion to deal with such issues.

The problems, if any, might come from the country’s political leaders. Local people of all communities and the international community should bring pressure on the government as well as all political parties not to politicize the issue of internally displaced persons, and instead to urgently resolve the problems, like a responsible state.

For many decades ideological trends within Sri Lanka have been based on various war strategies. Ever since the 1971 insurrection led by the People’s Liberation Front (JVP), the social discourse within the country has been continuously on various aspects of violence and militarism. Developments in recent weeks should help to undermine those initiatives, which rely heavily on the media to create a disturbed state of national consciousness.

Under the new situation such war mongering could be brought to an end, and the grave problems of all communities in the country – such as the high cost of living, unemployment, the deterioration of health and education facilities, the virtual collapse of the administration of justice and public institutions – could be addressed.

The responsibility now falls on the people, more than ever, to take appropriate steps to impose discipline and accountability on the politicians. If the country fails once again to deal with the issue of accountability of politicians, it will soon find itself dragged into various other conflicts, which will generate more violence and recreate the war mentality.

Other societies that have gone through difficult periods have managed to recover when their populations played a greater role to avoid past mistakes. The people of Sri Lanka, those in the diaspora and the international community, all of whom support the country’s recovery, now have an opportunity to make their own interventions so that the tragic political strategies of unscrupulous political elements can be brought under control.

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(Basil Fernando is director of the Asian Human Rights Commission based in Hong Kong. He is a Sri Lankan lawyer who has also been a senior U.N. human rights officer in Cambodia. He has published several books and written extensively on human rights issues in Asia. His blog can be read at http://srilanka-lawlessness.com.)