On December 26, 2004, an earthquake with a magnitude between 9.1 and 9.3 struck off the coast off the West Coast of Sumatra Indonesia. It generated a tsunami generating in all directions as far apart as Malaysia and Tanzania.The 2004 tsunami left three quarters of Sri Lanka's island coastline was reduced to collapsed houses, smashed boats and wrecked vehicles. More than 40,000 people were killed and a million were displaced from their homes. Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital on the West Coast remained untouched.
These photos were taken near Lighthouse Beach in Batticaloa. They serve as a mitigation measure to warn residents that they do indeed live in a tsunami hazard area. The other mitigation measure, known as the 100-metre rule, forbids anyone living within 100 metres of the coast line to build their homes. Fishermen were the hardest hit by this measure and many saw this as a way to claim the land for developers of 5 star resorts. Whatever the motive was, the result impacted the livelihoods of the poorest of the poor. While many involved with the tourist trade were able to comply and rebuild, the rest found themselves without homes and work and were forced into refugee camps.
While international response to the tsunami was heartening, the government contributed very little. Thousands of Sri Lankans became internally displaced people (IDPs) seeking refuge in the north from not only the tsunami destruction, but also from the war that was raging in the north and east.
Perhaps the reason why I bring up the tsunami before going into any detail as to the history of ethnic conflict here in Sri Lanka is that many people very well know nothing of the 26 year Civil War that was battled out in the north and east of the country between the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)...more commonly referred to as the Tamil Tigers. It was a war between the Sinhalese (Buddhists) and Tamils (Hindus) and gives a vivid portrayal of how mixing religion with politics can even make the belief of Buddhism turn ugly and violent.
And so these two events, the tsunami and war, should give a better idea as to what has brought me here. True, I don't speak the language and it's out of my regional focus of the Mid East, but Sri Lanka provides ample opportunity for me to learn of a country struggling to deal with IDPs in a post-conflict environment along with natural disaster mitigation. More than likely I will be applying what I learn here back in the Middle East...or at least that's what the plan is. Either there or Afghanistan, though I really, really need to weigh the pros and cons with the idea of a return to Afghan nation. The situation appears to be steadily deteriorating. I definitely have my fair share of grey hairs from my former Afghan experience, but I blame 99% of them on having to deal with my nutty boss trying to send me to Kandahar.
As a friend of mine summed it up, 'you seem to live for disasters'. I guess this is true to an extent.
