Caritas looks to end Tamils’ police fears in Sri Lanka

(August 07, 2010) Caritas in Sri Lanka is looking to end deep-rooted Tamil mistrust of the predominately Sinhalese police force by organizing awareness programs on police procedures and services. After decades of conflict, people are still too scared to approach a policeman, let alone go to a police station, said Father Sritharan Sylvester, head of the Caritas Eastern Human and Economic Development Centre (EHED) in Trincomalee-Batticaloa diocese. People need to know the police will help and that they need not be afraid to make a complaint or seek assistance, he said. Likewise, the police need to show Tamils they are friendly and willing to help, otherwise the “whole peace-building process will be at stake,” Father Sylvester said. Many policemen do not even speak Tamil, he added. To allay people’s fears, EHED, the local Catholic Church’s social service agency, is conducting meetings between Tamil villagers and police officers to build more trust. At recent meetings in Kathankudi and Manmunai villages, about 60 people took part in each question-and-answer session with police officers. Crimes such as theft, burglary, deception, robbery, child abuse, sexual assault and the illegal sale of liquor are pressing issues in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, said one police officer. “In most cases, we have found that people are just too scared to complain, and these crimes go unchecked,” he said. Villagers appear to be responding well to the meetings.