Sri Lanka: Information on situation of people who have both Sinhalese and Tamil parents, the JVP guerrilla movement and forced recruitment by the JVP, Sri Lanka
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 May 1989 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | LKA0830 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Sri Lanka: Information on situation of people who have both Sinhalese and Tamil parents, the JVP guerrilla movement and forced recruitment by the JVP, Sri Lanka, 1 May 1989, LKA0830, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab606c.html [accessed 6 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
No specific reference to the situation of Sri Lankans with mixed ethnic background is available at the IRBDC at this time.
The attached documentation concerning the ongoing conflict between Sinhalese and Tamil guerrillas may be of some use.
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is described as a Maoist Sinhalese organization, which has undergone periods of proscription and legality. [ Revolutionary and Dissident Movements, (London: Keesing's Reference Publications, 1987), p. 350.] At present, it is opposed not only to the Sri Lankan government, but to the presence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in the northern and eastern regions of the country. [ "A Decisive Mandate", in Asiaweek, 3 March 1989, pp. 20, 25-26.] The JVP has been linked with another group, the Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya (DJV). [ Urgent Action, (London, amnesty International), 15 November 1988. From mid-1987 to the end of 1988, more than five hundred political killings, mainly members of the ruling United National Party and its supporters, had been attributed to the JVP and DJV. [ Urgent Action, (London, amnesty International), 15 November 1988, and Keesing's Record of World Events, (London, Longman Publications), June 1988, p. 35936.] The JVP has also been blamed for attempting to assassinate the President of Sri Lanka and other government officials, as well as using violence to obstruct elections and to impose strikes in different regions. Please refer to attached documents for more detailed accounts of these events. However, no information regarding forced recruitment by the JVP could be found among the sources available to the IRBDC at present.
In the last months, political violence in Sri Lanka has increased, and has included the emergence of an anti-JVP group referred to as the Black Cats, which has allegedly murdered dozens of JVP members and supporters (see attached article:
"Killings by mysterious Black Cats set new level of terror in Sri Lanka", from The Globe and Mail, 6 April 1989, p. A1).
The attached documents include:
-"Killings by mysterious Black Cats set new level of terror in Sri Lanka", from The Globe and Mail, 6 April 1989, p. A1.(Three pages attached)
- "A Decisive Mandate", in Asiaweek, 3 March 1989, pp. 20, 25-26.
-"Now Comes the Hard Part", in Asiaweek, 6 January 1989, pp. 24-25.
- Urgent Action, (London, amnesty International), 15 November 1988.
-Keesing's Record of World Events, (London, Longman Publishing Group), November 1988, pp. 36286 and 36287.
