Sri Lanka Conflict

Consequences of Conflict in Sri Lanka
Political consequence consequence (SC). (PC), Economic consequence (EC), and Social

PC: Political consequence is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan Conflict. Armed conflict arose out of the intense displeasure of the Tamils at their discrimination. An armed group, the Tamil Tigers, was formed which resorted to attacking Sinhalese as well as Tamil officials who supported the ruling party. Many incidences of violence ensued including the 1983 riots where 13 Sinhalese soldiers were killed by the Tamil Tigers. Foreign intervention is another example of such consequence. On 3 June 1987, the Indian government sent 20 ships to Jaffna to provide supplies tithe Tamils living there. The Indian Air Force also dropped supplies into the Jaffna the following day. In doing so, it violated Sri Lankan Airspace. Thus, political consequence is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan Conflict.

EC: Economic consequence is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan Conflict. Unemployment arose due to all the disruptive riots that led to thousands of factory and plantation workers losing their jobs. Many of these jobless were Sinhalese who took part in looting and vandalism. The unstable situation also led to loss of investments from other countries. The amount of foreign investments fell from $70 million in 1982 to $20 million in 1986. Thus, Economic consequence is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan Conflict.

SC: Social consequence is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan Conflict. Sri Lankan Tamils were driven out of their homeland, many of them fled to Tamil Nadu in India. It is estimated that65, 000 Tamils still remain as refugees in India. High Security Zones were set up by the Sri Lankan army to combat the Tamil Tigers. Tamils living in these zones had to flee when the army came in to fight the Tamil Tigers. Thus, Social consequence is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan Conflict.

PC>EC: Political consequence is a more important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict than Economic consequence based on the severity of the impact. Armed conflict resulted in many deaths and loss of property while Economic consequence only resulted in unemployment and overall loss of income. These economic problems would not matter if you were dead due to armed conflict. Thus, political consequence is a more important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict.

PC>SC: Political consequence is a more important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict than social consequence as it is the root cause. Tamils fled from Sri Lanka due to the armed conflict in Sri Lanka. They feared for their lives due to the extremist actions taken by both sides. Thus Political consequence is a more important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict. (Sub-Points) Armed conflict (AC), foreign intervention (FI), unemployment, loss of investments from other countries, fall in the number of tourists and Sri Lankans driven out of their homeland.

AC: Armed conflict is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict. In 1976, a new politic alparty, the Tamil United Liberation Front was formed which rallied for a separate independent state in Sri Lanka known as Tamil Eelam. As their demands were not met, a militant group, the LTTE or Tamil Tigers was formed. The Tamil Tigers attack the Sinhalese, as well as Tamils in the police force and Tamil members and supporters of the ruling party. They attack anyone that does not support the proposed separate state. This has led to a long war with the Sri Lankan government, lasting for20 years and has cost more than 60,000 lives. This shows how a militant group like the Tamil Tigers has caused violent clashes with the Sri Lankan government as a result of the Sri Lankan conflict. Thus armed conflict is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict. FI: Foreign intervention is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict. The Sinhalese-Tamil conflict attracted the attention of India who initially, tried to mediate the conflict between the two sides. However, on 3 June 1987, the Indian government sent 20 Indian ships to Jaffna to provide food and petroleum products to the Sri Lankan Tamils. When the ships were turned back, the Indian Air Force dropped food and medical supplies in Jaffna the following day. In doing so, it violated Sri Lankan airspace. India then sent a peacekeeping force to Sri Lanka in order to seize weapons from the uncooperative Tamil Tigers. This resulted in many clashes between the peacekeeping force and the Tamil Tigers. The peacekeeping force was later withdrawn in 1990. This shows how India, as a foreign power intervened on behalf of the Tamils in Sri Lanka as a result of the conflict. Thus foreign intervention is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict. Unemployment: Unemployment is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict. The Sri Lankan riots in July 1983 led to massive unemployment as thousands of factory workers, the self-employed and plantation workers lost their jobs. For example, many Tamil owned businesses and factories were destroyed with the loss of 25,000 jobs. It was also reported that 150,000 jobs had been lost and that 90% of these jobs belonged to the Sinhalese. This shows that both sides suffered losses in the Sri Lankan conflict. Thus, unemployment is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict.

Loss of investments: Loss of investments from other countries is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict. Due to the instability of the Sri Lankan economy caused by the ongoing conflict deterred investors from other countries from investing in Sri Lanka. This caused the economy to become stagnant. For example, foreign investments fell from $70 million in 1982 to $20 million in1986. Thus loss of investments from other countries is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict. Tourists: Fall in the number of tourists is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict. Tourism contributes significantly to Sri Lankans’ economy. However this was adversely affected by the violence and internal conflict. After the 1983 riots, tourist arrivals steadily decreased resulting in a loss of jobs. For example the number of tourist arrivals fell from 400,000 in 1982 to 200,000 in 1986.This has had an adverse impact on the economy. Thus fall in the number of tourists is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict. Displacement: Sri Lankan Tamils driven out of their homeland is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict. The conflict has caused large-scale displacement beyond its borders. For example, thousands of Tamils fled to Tamil Nadu in South India in the 1983 riots. High security zones also caused large-scale displacement as Tamils had to flee when the Sri Lankan army entered these zones to take on the Tamil Tigers. This has caused many Tamils to live in overcrowded refugee camps as a result of the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers. Thus Sri Lankan Tamils driven out of their homeland is an important consequence of the Sri Lankan conflict. Armed Conflict > all others: Armed conflict is the most important consequence as it is the root cause of all the other consequences. If not for the violent acts carried out by the Tamil Tigers, India would never have intervened and all the economic problems that arose due to the violent upheaval would never have occurred. Sri Lankan Tamils would also not have been driven out of the homeland as the Sri Lankan government would not have set up HSZs to combat the Tamil Tigers. Thus, armed conflicts is the most important consequence.