எம் தமிழ் உறவுகளின் விடுதலை வேண்டி நீண்ட துார நடைப்பயணத்தை மேற்கொள்ளும் சகோதரர்களிற்கு எனது வாழ்த்துக்கள்

5ம் நாள் நடைப்பயணத்தின் போது எடுக்கப்பட்ட காணொளிகள்

8ம் நாள் நடைப்பயணம்

இறுதி நாள் பயணம்.

பாராளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர்களின் உரை

அவங்க நடை பயணம் - பொறி - நம்பிக்கை...!!

நீங்க எப்பவுமே மாறாம இருக்கிங்க ..

கந்தப்பு...

நல்லா இருக்கிங்களா?

அவங்க நடை பயணம் - பொறி - நம்பிக்கை...!!

நீங்க எப்பவுமே மாறாம இருக்கிங்க ..

கந்தப்பு...

நல்லா இருக்கிங்களா?

கனகாலத்துக்குப் பிறகு உங்களைச் சந்தித்ததில் மிக்க மகிழ்ச்சி. நான் நலமாக இருக்கிறேன்.

அவுஸ்திரெலியா SBS தொலைக்காட்சியில் வந்த சேரன், விஸ்ணாவின் நடைப்பயணம்.

செனட் சபையில் மார்க் வேர்னர் அவர்கள் ஆற்றிய உரை.

PDF இணைப்பின் 114வது பக்கத்தில்( இணைப்பில் உள்ள 100வது பக்கம்) இருக்கிறது.

http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/dailys/ds190809.pdf

Senator Mark Furner brief the Senate on Seran and Vishnu's 300km walk to save 300,000 tamils

19th Aug 2009 - Senator FURNER (Queensland) (7.38 pm)—On Tuesday afternoon of this week, I greeted two young Australians, Seran and Vishna, who had just completed a 300 kilometre walk from Sydney to Parliament

House. The journey took nine days. It commenced in the heart of Sydney and went through country towns, finally ending in Canberra. Their intention was to raise concerns about the situation in camps in Sri Lanka, where there are an estimated 300,000 citizens, including their relatives, being held. Vishna is a 20-year-old who is currently studying criminology at UNSW, and Seran is a professional dancer, choreographer and teacher.

Both Seran and Vishna explained that the situation in the camps is severe, with a lack of water, food and medication, and major hygiene issues. They also stressed the importance of having these citizens

released well before the annual monsoon season begins. Already there are reports that one of the camps

is flooded, which has created serious health issues. I am informed that the camps are providing shelter in tents, which are extremely overcrowded with many families.

The weather at the moment is dry with temperatures up to 42 degrees. There have been outbreaks of diseases

such as meningitis, hepatitis and typhoid throughout the camps. As you can appreciate, there are pregnant

women, children, the elderly, the injured and the disabled trying to survive in this environment. On top

of these health issues, as one can imagine, there is the development of psychological trauma. Both activists have different stories and different reasons for campaigning to bring these issues to our

attention. Saran’s story, in part—which I quote from the internet—is as follows:

I got my first chance to visit my hometown in 2003, where I visited Jaffna in the North of Sri Lanka. It was a trip that I could say was bittersweet, mixed with many happy yet haunting memories. We stayed in a house with our relatives, relatives who I never knew I had. The walls of the house had many bullet holes, in fact nearly all the houses in the area had been damaged by the war.

Sadly, it is these same family members and friends who are currently detained within internment camps, even though they have homes and belongings of their own. They have become displaced within their own land and that is something they struggle with everyday. In my mind, there is no excuse for them to be there, the war is over, so why must they continue to suffer in camps? Along with them are 300,000 other Tamils, who are longing to return to their homes and homeland.

When I hear news of 1,400 people dying in a single camp (Manik Farm) and reports of forced prostitution, starvation, lack of proper sanitation and shelter, I can’t help but picture the faces of my family and friends. Images of my relatives, cousins, aunts and uncles flood my mind and I am engulfed in grief at the thought of them and what they are going through. This walk is symbolic for me; it is 300km or 300,000 meters.

I am walking a meter for every life which suffers in these camps today. I aim to create awareness about their plight, and I ask for your help, so that together we can help release the Tamils and re-settle them in their villages again. I hope that we can provide them with the basic necessities and human rights that we freely enjoy as Australians.

Vishna’s story is, in part, as follows:

I first visited the island of Sri Lanka in 2004 at the age of 15, and I must say it was an experience that definitely changed the way that I look at the world. I gained so much from that 4 month trip, where I spent time helping victims of the Boxing Day Tsunami. The damage caused by the Tsunami was terrible and I volunteered to look after children, teach infants and adults English and was able to learn more about Tamil culture and traditions, that I had not experienced back home in Australia All over the news, appear the images of howling children

who have just been orphaned, and piles of human bodies stacked upon each other due to disease and starvation within the camps. The people and their faces have permanently entrenched themselves into my mind.

300km is a long way, but to think that as I write this, there is a child crying in their mother’s arms for food, or that an old grandparent is suffering uncontrollably from not being able to access adequate medicines, and so many other forms of unimaginable torture, I know that my walk is only the least I can do. By carrying out this walk, I hope and urge the Australian government and the general public to apply as much pressure as they can muster on the Sri Lankan government to release the 300,000 Tamils detained within camps.

Despite having different backgrounds and experiences, the young men had one common goal, and that is

to help those Tamils in Sri Lanka to have access to what we have taken for granted: freedom, good health,

wholesome food, water and an adequate roof over their heads.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for unrestricted humanitarian access to the displacement camps and for an independent and credible international investigation into allegations

which have consistently surfaced in the course of the fighting regarding serious violations of international

humanitarian and human rights laws on the part of both sides. I am informed that the UN agents are not being

granted full access to the displacement camps. Should this be factual, all restrictions on the access to the

displacement camps preventing the successful work of the UN agencies, the ICRC and humanitarian NGOs

must be removed to ensure that satisfactory medicine, food and other basic assistance can be provided. As the

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights noted, this ‘will make the difference between life, illness and even

death to many’.

The concerns and stories Seran and Vishna raised are very consistent with what I have been told through

other persons from Sri Lanka. Last Sunday I was invited to attend the official opening of the Crusade for

Peace and Justice, Australian Tamil Congress national launch at Toowong in Brisbane. Following the official

launch a further guest speaker from the Queensland chapter of Amnesty International spoke of concerns

their organisation holds for those people in Sri Lanka. In closing, we must continue to raise the concerns that

inspired Seran and Vishna to walk 300 kilometres to campaign to save those 300,000 Tamil civilian lives in

the camps of Sri Lanka.

வின் தொலைக்காட்சியில் வந்த செய்தி

தம்மால் இயன்ற அளவுக்கு தமது மக்களின் துயரை வெளிக்கொணரும் இந்த இளையவர்களுக்கு வாழ்த்துக்கள். அவர்களின் இலட்சியம் வெல்லட்டும்..!

கிரமமமான தகவல் பதிவுகளுக்கு நன்றி கந்தப்பு..!

பாராளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் அவர்கள் பாராளுமன்றத்தில் ஆற்றிய உரை

Sri Lankan refugees

MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (6.04): Today I would like to congratulate two young men from Sydney, Seran and Vishna, for their courage and commitment in walking from Sydney to Canberra to highlight the plight of 300,000 refugees in Sri Lanka living in appalling conditions in camps in that country. I met Seran and Vishna and both of these young men’s parents this morning. Both of them have been personally affected by the conflict in Sri Lanka and now there is the terrible situation of the treatment of refugees in the camps. These refugees are internally displaced persons, people who have been forced to flee their homes as a result of armed conflict and violations of human rights.

International law states that the government concerned holds the responsibility for providing assistance and protection during displacement and during resettlement. All governments around the world should be supporting the calls from groups such as Amnesty International to immediately allow the people in these camps freedom of movement and for those who wish to leave to be allowed to do so. The camps should be placed under civilian management and not under the management of the military. Aid agencies, journalists and human rights observers should be given full access to the camps. There should also be a commitment to the closure of the camps.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations has spoken out against the conditions which these refugees now find themselves in. In this situation, we are talking about innocent people with ordinary lives who have been caught in a conflict and are now existing in unliveable conditions. These people should be given all the assistance they need to be able to return to their homes. They should be able to do this without fear of being treated inhumanely either in the camp or when they return home.

I applaud Seran and Vishna for what they have done. In bringing attention to the situation in Sri Lanka, their actions speak louder than words. The 300 kilometres they have walked represents the 300,000 lives they want to highlight the plight of. The world should be doing all it can to save these 300,000 lives by urging the Sri Lankan government to abide by democratic and humanitarian obligations and resettle the people displaced by the conflict in Sri Lanka.

இணைப்பில் 123ம் பக்கத்தில் இருக்கிறது.

http://www.hansard.act.gov.au/hansard/2009/pdfs/P090818.pdf