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After IMF Vote, Sri Lanka Releases Letter, Drops IDP Release from 80 to 60%

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 25 -- Only after procuring approval of a $2.6 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund Executive Board did the Sri Lankan government, under pressure, put online a copy of its July 15 Letter of Intent to the IMF.

  Contrary to claims that the purposes and IMF debate around the loan had nothing to do with the detention camps and relocations in Northern Sri Lanka, the Letter of Intent describes use of funds for the camps, and states that "the government aims to resettle 70-80 percent of IDPs by the end of the year."

   When UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon belatedly visited Sri Lanka and the Manik Farm internment camp in late May, the government said it would release 80 percent of those being detained by the end of the year. The July 16 letter to the IMF -- withheld until after the July 24 vote on the loan -- dropped the percentage to seventy.

   In fact, before the IMF board voted but also before it was publicly acknowledged that the release of detained Tamils was part of Sri Lanka's letter of intent to the IMF, Sri Lanka's foreign minister had already further dropped the percentage, to sixty.

  Some now say that the IMF board on July 24 voted on old and inaccurate information -- which was allowed only because the IMF and Sri Lanka withheld the July 16 letter until after the $2.6 billion had been voted on.

UN's Ban and Mahinda Rajapakse: extended detention of IDPs not shown

At the UN's July 24 noon briefing, before the IMF executive board vote, Inner City Press asked UN Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq:

Inner City Press: Since it was said that the Secretary-General was closely monitoring the compliance with the joint statement and all of this, it’s just come out that the Foreign Minister of the country has now said that the commitment made, including while the Secretary-General was there, to allow 80 per cent of those in the detention camps to return home by the end of the year no longer holds, that it’s going to be a lower number. Has the UN taken note of that and what’s the response to that?

Associate Spokesperson Haq: We have always expected the Government to abide by the commitments that have been reached on this particular matter. Beyond anything further, I’d check whether OCHA has new reaction to the latest comments. I don’t know whether we necessarily would react to the very latest comments that you just cited, though.

   Those detained by the Sri Lankan government can, some say, legitimately be called political prisoners. The government committed to the UN to release 80% of them by the end of the year. The government committed to the IMF, in a letter withheld until after approval of a $2.6 billion loan, to release 70 to 80% by the end of the year. [A reader points out that per Mahinda Rajapakse, it is not a commitment or promise, only a "target" -- click here.]

  Then prior to the IMF vote, but before the letter to the IMF was released, the government gave itself space to continue to detain some additional 30,000 to 60,000 people past the previously committed deadline. The UN has nothing to say, and the IMF is giving $2.6 billion to the government.

  Some call it an IMF reward for the extended detention of political prisoners -- apparently the IMF would look favorably on the internment -- and opacity or delayed release -- practices of Myanmar and North Korea. Watch this site.

IMF footnote: the belatedly released Sri Lankan Letter of Intent to the IMF about the loan puts in a different light the IMF Director of Communications' public May 21 response to Inner City Press' questions about IDPs and relocation, that "perhaps it's just helpful to clarify that when the IMF lends, it is not for specific projects. We lend to support a country's finances. We make a loan to the Central Bank to support reserves."

  Then why was the following in Sri Lanka's Letter of Intent to the IMF, withheld under after the IMF vote?

Reconstruction of the North and East and the protection of vulnerable groups adversely affected by the conflict will be an integral part of our program. To this end the government has moved quickly to provide humanitarian assistance to those affected by the conflict and to develop a post-war reconstruction plan. The immediate priority is addressing the humanitarian needs of the estimated 280,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). The government aims to resettle 70-80 percent of IDPs by the end of the year...In 2009 the government intends to make room within the programmed deficit targets for spending on humanitarian assistance and the resettlement of IDPs using savings in existing budget provisions, redeployment of certain categories of military personnel for demining and for the provision of basic infrastructure, and any external grants from our development partners. About two percent of the projected government spending will be used for the provision of humanitarian assistance and the resettlement of displaced persons. A needs assessment is expected to be completed by end July 2009 to determine additional funds needed for the broader reconstruction strategy.

Watch this site.