Sri Lanka: Current status of the Indian PeaceKeeping Force (IPKF) and Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Force (EPRLF) in Sri Lanka; expected response of Sri Lankan Army following IPKF withdrawal
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 May 1990 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | LKA4333 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Sri Lanka: Current status of the Indian PeaceKeeping Force (IPKF) and Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Force (EPRLF) in Sri Lanka; expected response of Sri Lankan Army following IPKF withdrawal, 1 May 1990, LKA4333, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aac04c.html [accessed 26 May 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. |
Please find attached several articles which note that the IPKF vacated Sri Lanka on 24 March 1990. Regarding the EPRLF, a report in India Today dated 15 April 1990 mentions that most of the militants belonging to the EPRLF and its allies have "fled to India and other places in fear of the Tigers." The same report notes that the EPRLF has a "stark" presence on the Island and that the offices of it and its allies are now empty. An article from The Hindu, dated 17 March 1990, and one from The Times of India, dated 13 March 1990, note that a large number of EPRLF cadres had fled to India. Similarly, a report in AsiaWeek dated 27 April 1990 claims that the EPRLF and its allies had fled to India in March. This report further mentions, however that the group re-emerged in mid-April in Colombo, and was re-asserting a political role. This information is corroborated in the article printed in The Hindustan Times of 10 April 1990. It is also corroborated in a report by Agence France Press, quoted in the Foreign Broadcast Information Service for 13 April 1990, which also mentions that most members of the EPRLF-led provincial administration in the North-East Province had "fled the region since India withdrew its troops." For further details, please consult the attachments.
The IRBDC cannot offer an analysis of the "expected response" of the Sri Lankan Army to the withdrawal. However, some comments to this effect are provided by the commentators in the attachments.
ATTACHMENTS
Feizal Samath, "Indian Troops Leave Sri Lanka But Will Peace Follow?", Reuters, 25 March 1990, Sunday, AM cycle.
Raju Gopalakrishnan, "Indian Troops Complete Withdrawal From Sri Lanka", The Associated Press, 24 March 1990, Saturday, AM cycle.
Dalton De Silva, "Indian Troops Finally Withdraw From Sri Lanka", Reuters, 24 March 1990, Saturday, PM cycle.
"IPKF vacates Sri Lanka", The Hindu (international edition), 31 March 1990, p. 1.
"Indian soldiers leave Sri Lanka", March 25 1990, p. H2.
Barbara Crossette, "All Indian Troops Out of Sri Lanka", The New York Times (international section), 25 March 1990.
Lisa Beyer, "Goodbye--and Good Riddance", Time, 2 April 1990, p. 25.
John Colmey, "Sri Lanka Rebuilds After Bitter Ethnic Clash", The Christian Science Monitor, 3 April 1990, p. 5.
"The end of an illusion", The Sri Lanka Monitor, March 1990, p. 1.
Ramesh Menon, "Return of the Tigers", India Today, 15 April 1990, pp. 117-118, 121.
Debashish Munshi, "Most Tamil refugees are militants", The Times of India, 13 March 1990, p. 6.
"Varadharaja Perumal leaves for India", The Hindu (International edition), 17 March 1990, p. 4.
M.K. Tikku, "EPRLF for talks on united Lanka", The Hindustan Times, 10 April 1990, p. 16.
"A Shift in the Tamil Equation", AsiaWeek, 27 April 1990, p. 28.
LTTE Delegation Meets With President: Presents Election Demands, AFP (Hong Kong], 11 April 1990, FBIS-NES-90-072, 13 April 1990, p. 44.
