Sri Lankan Villagers Flee Massacre

Piling belongings, fishing boats and even their pets onto trucks, some 1,500 Tamils in an island village where at least eight people were gunned down fled Saturday to rebel territory, fearful the government could not protect them.

Mounting violence in Sri Lanka is forcing thousands from their homes, exacerbating an already severe refugee problem and threatening to torpedo a shaky four-year old truce between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels.

"The whole village is out by now. Some 16 buses and (trucks) are taking them," said Rev. Anton Amalraj, a Roman Catholic priest in Allaipiddy, an island village on the government-controlled Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka.

On May 13, unidentified gunmen killed at least eight Tamil civilians, including a 4-month-old baby, a 4-year-old boy and their parents, in their home in Allaipiddy.

TamilNet, a pro-rebel Web site, claimed government forces surrounded the house and opened fire. The government denied any military involvement and blamed the killings on the Tamil Tiger rebels, saying they were attempting to "divert international opinion."

Meanwhile, at least 10 Sri Lankan refugees were killed Saturday when the boat they were using to flee to India capsized, the Press Trust of India agency reported.

Indian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Nearly 400 families fled Allaipiddy after police on Friday said they could not guarantee the safety of the remaining villagers, Amalraj said.

"Most of them are going to Wanni," Amalraj said, referring to an area under Tamil Tiger control on the mainland.

Shop owners boarded up their stores as the villagers climbed onto busses loaded with their household goods and food. Fisherman hauled their boats and nets onto trucks and some even took their chickens and pet dogs with them.

An old fisherman, who refused to give his name fearing reprisals, said he just wants to live in a safe place where he can continue his livelihood without disruption.

Most villagers refused to speak to reporters.

As the trucks and buses rolled out, the village took on the appearance of a ghost town, with only a few stray dogs roaming the now empty streets.

Troops manning checkpoints were allowing the villagers to pass unhindered after recording their vehicle numbers, said Rohitha Priyadharshana, the local coordinator for Sri Lanka's Human Rights Commission, who was monitoring the mass exit.

As they passed, some soldiers called on them to stay, promising they would be protected.

A 2002 cease-fire between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has been rocked by surging violence that has killed at least 275 people since April, according to international truce monitors, and has halted peace talks.

The rebels began fighting the government in 1983, demanding a separate Tamil homeland and claiming discrimination against the Tamils by the majority Sinhalese. More than 65,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands left homeless before the cease-fire halted 19 years of open warfare.

Since April, some 30,000 more people have been made homeless by violence across the north and east of the island, the areas worst hit by the latest round of fighting, said Orla Clinton, the United Nations relief coordinator.

The recent fighting also complicates international efforts to help the survivors of the 2004 tsunami, which killed at least 35,000 people in Sri Lanka and displaced several hundred thousand more.

The war forced 1.6 million people from their homes. About 800,000 went abroad, mainly to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. In addition, about 60,000 live in camps in India, and the remainder became refugees within Sri Lanka.
VINCENT JEYAN