Refugees International: Reports: Visual Mission: Sri Lanka After the Tsunami

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Visual Mission: Sri Lanka After the Tsunami

When the tsunami hit Sri Lanka on December 26, it killed almost 31,000 people and displaced 700,000 more. Local, community-based organizations were quick to respond and establish the needs of those who lost their homes and families. As international aid agencies arrived to help the rebuilding process, they found these locally-based organizations an invaluable source of help and information.

The relief effort has been complicated by a lingering 22-year civil war between the government of Sri Lanka and the insurgent Tamil Tigers, or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which had already displaced 390,000 people. Yet, the disaster could have a silver lining. The two sides have been forced to work together to bring food, clean water and medical care to the victims and to rebuild villages, schools, ports and fishing boats. This ongoing interaction around the tsunami relief response could strengthen the movement toward peace.

Sri Lanka 2005: Fishing boat thrown from Galle harbor

Photo Credit: Refugees International/Eugene Carlson
01/09/2005
The tsunami demolished houses, derailed trains, and destroyed 80 percent of Sri Lanka’s fishing boats. With the damage to the fishing fleet, 170,000 fishermen are unemployed, and a key source of nutrition has been lost. Ten of the nation’s 12 major fishing harbors were destroyed by the tsunami. And coastal estuary sites, where shrimp and small fish were farmed, have silted up and are lost as a fishing resource. Restoring the fishing industry requires major new investments in nets, boats, harbors, and storage and transportation facilities.