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[Recipient's Name]
[Recipient's Address]

Dear [Recipients Name]:

Stop the IMF Aid to Sri Lanka. Save Lives.

Recently, in Afghanistan a law which inhumanely punishes women and robs of them of their most fundamental rights was legislated for political expediency. This is happening after 116 brave Canadian men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect these very same human rights, which now have been so cheaply sold. Our intention is not to undermine the sacrifices made by Canadian women and men in Afghanistan but it is to highlight how misguided foreign policy, albeit with the best of intentions, could be counter-productive at great cost to Canadians. In that context, we want to make sure financial assistance to the Government of Sri Lanka is not one more such miss-step. It is important that Canadian foreign policy and financial assistance - even when it is through a multilateral body such as the IMF - to foreign countries must be scrutinized by Canadians to ensure that our tax payer money is not wasted in promoting or propagating ideals that we abhor. The case of IMF aid, in the order of 1.9 billion USD, being arranged for Sri Lanka is one such policy.

Sri Lanka is a state with fundamental and deep running political problems which have fed into its civil war, a conflict which is on the tipping point of becoming another Srebrenica or Rwanda. The Government of Sri Lanka has been accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity by leaders such as Ms. Navi Pillay, Commissioner for UNHRC. Several other world leaders have called on the government of Sri Lanka to declare a ceasefire. Sri Lanka has disregarded these calls for a ceasefire and as a sign of belligerence has escalated its genocidal war on the island’s Tamil minority.

The Sri Lankan state’s long history of ignoring international norms and standards, historic animosity towards organizations such as the UN and NGOs, horrendous human rights and media rights record, and past misappropriation and misuse of International Aid should alarm Canadians and be of the highest concern. In 2007, Sri Lanka allocated for defence 1.4 billion USD which was 23.28% of the total government income. In 2009, the defence spending once again rose to $1.66 billion USD, all this while the Sri Lankan state has been dependent on international Aid. It should be noted that the Sri Lankan state unilaterally abrogated the internationally brokered cease fire and has belligerently ignored international calls for a political settlement to the conflict.

It is deplorable that Canada not only supports such a nation, but is willing to waste and sacrifice Aid that could be better used to support Canadians who are suffering at home through economic hardships.

We demand that the Canadian Government:

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.

Thank you,

[Name]