Sri Lanka

With the military conflict over, there is much to be done to ensure that lasting peace is enjoyed by all Sri Lankans in the future. Rebuilding infrastructure and destroyed homes, improving security provision, working towards reconciliation and ensuring economic opportunities and services are available to resettling IDPs and ex-combatants are crucial, challenging tasks to be met by the Government of Sri Lanka.

Especially in areas affected by fighting, disrupted education and limited employment prospects have left young people under-occupied and unfulfilled, and so vulnerable to falling into criminal or violent behaviour as well as attracting suspicion and harassment from the security forces. Likewise, the voice of marginalised groups and communities needs to be strengthened to enable them to participate in political life and recovery and development processes within a more democratic political system.

The firearms homicide rate in Sri Lanka is 20 times higher than that of the UK. This is partly due to widespread illegal possession of homemade guns (‘galkatas’), shotguns and automatic military-style assault weapons and ammunition among the public, organised crime groups and security force deserters. Security forces have in recent years focused on victory in the conflict and have tightly secured Government-controlled areas. The country's criminal justice system has grown weak and struggles to deal effectively with crime. As a result, there are low levels of trust between local people, security forces and the police.

Lying some 30km off the south-east coast of India, Sri Lanka is home to a population of roughly 21.5 million people. The majority of the population (roughly 80%) are Sinhalese and largely Buddhist, while 10% are Tamil (predominantly Hindu) and 7% are Muslim. The majority of Sri Lanka’s Tamils and Muslims live in the North and East of the island.

During the late 1970s an armed Tamil separatism emerged, and came to be led by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Over three decades the LTTE pursued its struggle through violence and intimidation both against the Sinhalese state and to stifle political diversity amongst its own population.

The LTTE was effectively dismantled in May 2009, but the insurgency and efforts to counter it left at least 80,000 people dead and, in 2009 alone, drove more than 300,000 from their homes.

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami had a devastating effect of the island's coastal regions, killing around 35,000 people, leaving 500,000 homeless and razing infrastructure.

Although Sri Lanka is on course to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, poverty remains a problem particularly in rural areas and areas affected by the conflict. Even before the devastation brought by the final phase of military conflict in 2008, 23% of the population was estimated to be below the poverty line.