Foreign Intervention

Foreign Intervention

 A conflict in a country may caused other country to play the role of a mediator, which is a neutral party of the two opposing groups who brings the two opposing sides together for a discussion. The other country may also send troops to directly resolve the conflict.

The conflict in Sri Lanka attracted the attention of India. India originally tried to be a mediator as a response to the violence in July 1983. The foreign minister originally intended to mediate with the Sri Lankans and the Tamils, however, the mediation didn't work as the two parties cannot come to an agreement
In July 1987, India pressurize Sri Lanka to sign an agreement with India to stop the conflict. However, the Tamil Tigers did not completely surrender their weapons. In October 1987, the Indian troops took control of the Tamil Tigers forcefully. This led to the clash of the Indian peacekeeping force and the Tamil Tigers from October 1988 to December 1988. The peacekeeping force was withdrawn in March 1990


Armed Conflict

Armed Conflict

The policies introduced by the Sri Lanka government made the Tamils feel that they are not fairly treated and feel that they don't have basic rights. The Tamils originally made peaceful demonstrations that they should be treated fairly by the Sri Lanka government. However, after many years, their demands for fair treatment is not met, so the Tamils started a political party known as the Tamil United Liberation Front in 1976. They asked for a separate independent state in the northeastern outskirt of Sri Lanka, the areas the Tamils mainly lived, as they feel that they were not given basic rights and they think that the only way to have their basic rights is to have a separate state. However, the government did not approve to their idea. This caused the formation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, a group mainly consists of Tamil youths that organizes violence to demand for the fair treatment of the Tamils. They decided to use violence as they think that that is the only way to have fair treatment from the government. The Tamil Tigers attacks the Sinhalese, the Tamil police, the Tamils who supports the ruling party and the Tamils who don't support the proposal of the separate state. The Sinhalese also showed violence and hostility to the Tamils. The violence in July 1983 had 13 Sinhalese soldiers killed by the Tamil Tigers. The violence also spark off an armed conflict between the government and the Tamil Tigers. The armed conflict escalated to a war between the government and the Tamil Tigers which last for more than 20 years. More than 60000 people were killed in the war