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[Recipients Name]
International Monetary Fund,
700 19th Street, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20431
United States

Dear [Recipients Name]:

I am writing to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about loans and economic assistance being considered for the Sri Lankan state. The IMF should be aware of and take into consideration the complex international and local realities of the Sri Lankan state and the Tamil community of that island. Many in the international community eagerly watch militarization of Sri Lanka in a misguided hope of that it will lead to peace and opportunities to rebuild, while Tamils familiar with Sri Lanka’s history and political realities watch in extreme distress. Counter to the Sri Lankan state’s propaganda on the progress of the armed conflict, the lack of a political solution to the fundamental problems on the island and the Sri Lankan state’s application of extraordinary and inhumane force against Tamil civilians has only embittered and divided the island’s ethnic communities further, guaranteeing a future of conflict and instability.

The current Sri Lankan government’s expulsion of NGOs from Tamil regions; misappropriation of Tsunami aid meant for Tamil areas; the blockade of Humanitarian supplies to Tamil civilians; indiscriminate and targeted bombardment of civilian sites; and the creation of long term internment camps has created an international outcry with thousands participating in protests across North America, Europe, and India. Even Secretary Clinton and Foreign Secretary Miliband have called on “both the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to agree to a temporary no-fire period. Both sides need to allow civilians and wounded to leave the conflict area and to grant access for humanitarian agencies.”

Campaigns to boycott Sri Lankan products, to bring economic sanctions against the island nation, and to politically isolate and hold the Sri Lankan government accountable to international standards are also gathering momentum. These campaigns are reaching fruition in the form of parliamentary debates in Canada, Britain, and Senate reviews in the United States. All this supported by the almost daily release of shocking UN casualty reports, UN High Commissioner of Human Rights Navi Pillay’s stated concerns of War Crimes occurring in Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka being placed on the Genocide Red Alert list.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had said "The conflict won't be solved by military means alone", while the Sri Lankan state has shown a desire to solve the ‘ethnic problem’ once and for all with a military solution and quietly abandoned possible political solutions. One needs only review the progress made in the Eastern Province, after being ‘recaptured’ by Sri Lanka’s armed forces, for the effectiveness of such an approach. Even with the assistance of a breakaway group of Tamil ex-militants the now ‘normalized’ Eastern Province remains a hot bed of ethnic tensions, violence, abductions, ambushes, disappearances, and militant attacks. The Sri Lankan army has had to be doubled in size to just occupy all the new territory in the Eastern Province. Repeating this process for Sri Lanka’s Northern Province will produce the same ‘peace’ and the Sri Lankan state has already unveiled plans to again double the size of the army. To say that this kind of ‘peace’ is unsustainable is an understatement, and with the Sri Lankan government’s plans to hold the whole Tamil population of the Northern Province in long term internment camps also makes such an approach illegal under international law.

The current economic crisis in Sri Lanka should not be mistakenly assumed to be a result of the greater economic crisis gripping the world; but rather, as said by economist Razeen Sally, “is a home brewed macro economic crisis”. Since independence, successive Sri Lankan governments have maintained disastrous economic and political policies which have fundamentally added to the island’s instability and the extreme militarization and brutal violence against civilians of the North and Eastern provinces is just one more in this list of bad policies. This history of bad economic policies is marked by multiple IMF bailouts and breaking the terms of past bailouts. It is high time the IMF began holding the Sri Lankan state to task for repeatedly refusing to implement solid reforms and breaking past bailout conditions or the IMF risks losing credibility in a world already facing serious concerns about free market economic policies. The only manner to do this is to refuse any economic bailout citing Sri Lanka’s history of reneging on bailout conditions, domestic policy problems, and brewing humanitarian crisis. The IMF can either hold Sri Lanka to task or risk being party to human rights violations, war crimes, and Genocide.

Therefore, I strongly urge the International Monetary Fund to immediately:

• Halt the proposed funding to the amount of US $ 1.9 billion dollars as this will only aid Sri Lanka’s campaign of terror on a people that it claims to represent

• Condemn the unprecedented and irresponsible militarization of Sri Lanka in an attempt to solve fundamentally political problems, further impoverishing the state.
• Demand the Sri Lankan government to implement policies that foster long term stability, accountability, and abide by international norms and standards.
• Oblige the Sri Lankan state to allow the UN and international NGO’s unhindered access to civilians trapped inside the war zone and the closing down of Military internment camps

I hope that you will demonstrate strong and principled leadership on this issue by intervening in a timely and effective manner to avert a humanitarian disaster and ensure that prosperity and peace finally come to Sri Lanka.

Sincerely,

[Name]