Lions and Tigers Background

Background

About Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is an island nation off the coast of Southeast India, home to roughly 20 million people. 70% of the population is ethnically Sinhalese, with the majority of them living in the south and west of the island. Tamils make up the largest minority in Sri Lanka, who predominantly live in the north and east.

Since 1983, the country has been in civil war between the Sri Lankan Government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who claim an independent homeland in the north and east of the island. As a result of the fighting, nearly 70,000 people have been killed, and countless more displaced. Many Tamil civilians have been persecuted and suspected LTTE members, when in fact they have no affiliation to the armed group.

In 2004, the Indian Ocean Tsunami struck Sri Lanka, destroying entire towns across the east of the island, killing 40,000 people, and displacing half a million. There was a tremendous response from the international community to aid Sri Lanka, and many hoped the disaster would bring the country together and end the war.

However, tsunami funds were diverted from conflict areas in the east, where the need was greatest, towards tourist destinations under government control in the south. The war quickly escalated to its worst form yet when the international ceasefire treaty was disbanded and 17 aid workers were shot dead in 2006.