International governments oppose Sri Lanka's bid to host summit Special

Canada and other governments around the world are opposed to Sri Lanka's recent bid of attempting to host the next Commonwealth summit because of their controversial internal displacement camps.

Sri Lanka has been going through a lot of conflicts within the past year as they ended a 30-year civil war with the Tamil Tigers and now they are holding tens of thousands of Tamils in internal displacement camps, which the international community has pressured them to end. Last week, Digital Journal reported that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered the release of 150,000 Tamils by December 1, 2009 and completely shut down the camps by January 31, 2010. The Sri Lankan government will now want to host the next Commonwealth Summit in 2011 but other countries are also bidding to host the summit in two years. According to the Toronto Star, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will attempt to block any such bid. The Canadian government feels that this will be a way to pressure the Sri Lankan government to allow aid workers and media outlets into the IDPs. Spokesperson for Prime Minister Harper, Dimitri Souda, said on Friday, “Canada will not be supporting Sri Lanka as the next host of the Commonwealth summit.” A senior government official further said at the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, “Canada continues to urge the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure full and unhindered humanitarian access to internally displaced populations. Canada strongly supports the early, safe and voluntary return of internally displaced populations to their home communities." Bob Rae, a Liberal Canadian MP who has tried to enter Sri Lanka but was denied and protested with thousands of Canadians last week, has said he is happy with the Prime Minister office’s stance on this important issue. 580 CFRA has reported that Canada is joining other heads of state who oppose Sri Lanka’s bid such as United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown who is also concerned about the amount of Tamils left in the displacement camps. He also criticized the conduct of the civil war in Sri Lanka. A British government source told Reuters on Friday, “The prime minister will talk to other leaders about this, but is clear this won't wash.” The British government also wants Commonwealth discussions to be based on Commonwealth values such as democracy, human rights and the rule of law. As the Guardian notes, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who has had to deal with Tamil refugees who attempted to flee to Australia last month, said that they have called upon Sri Lanka to cease the violence and that humanitarian agencies and workers must be allowed to access the camps, “Sri Lanka must understand that there will be consequences for its actions.” Dev Fakruddin, a Toronto Tamil demonstrator, told Digital Journal on Sunday morning that he feels Sri Lanka won’t win the bid but he understands that Singhalese and the government will try their hardest to succeed in the area to prove to the world that the island, which has been dubbed as the “Tear Island,” is stable enough and the camps were a thing of the past. “Sri Lanka has been the nation of tears but also the nation of secrecy. A lot of people around the world have no real clue of what’s going on in Sri Lanka except Tamils and other people in Sri Lanka. If nations accept Sri Lanka’s bid to host the Commonwealth summit then it’s truly troubling that we as a civilized society allow a criminal nation to host such an important event.” He also compared the possibility of Sri Lanka hosting the summit to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis’ hosting of the Olympics. “It was nothing but show boating and propaganda to get the general public on their side and to prove that the government in Sri Lanka is peaceful and that reports are completely far-fetched.” The Sri Lankan President is also holding an early election two years prior to the end of his term because of the popularity he is experiencing by ending the 30-year civil war in the spring.