fishery disagreements among pending issues

Fishermen in the northern regions are affected by trawling by Indian vessels, although a solution has been sought for years. On the eve of the trip in which he will meet Indian Prime Minister Modi, the president met with Tamil leaders trying to bring them peace of mind but without presenting concrete progress on reconciliation and autonomy plans.

Colombo () – Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe visited the northern regions a few days ago and held talks with local parliamentarians to address various unresolved issues that remained after the civil war between the government and the Tamil population , as well as finding a solution for trawling practiced by Indian vessels. Tamil fishermen in northern Sri Lanka have long been undermined by the Indians, who reduce the fish population and break nets and even equipment. Trawling has been banned in Sri Lanka since 2018, and this year 74 fishermen and 12 Indian trawlers were detained for that reason.

The head of government will make an official visit to India tomorrow at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Tamil people hope that a lasting solution will be reached on illegal fishing that will guarantee the livelihood of the 50,000 people in the region who depend on this activity.

On July 15, for example, a group of Indian ships entered Sri Lankan territorial waters off the island of Delft and the Navy detained 15 people. These were transferred to the port of Kankesanthurai and presented to the Kayts Court, which set the trial for July 21.

Nirmalan Aruliah (54), Annalingam Pillmarai (63) and Nagarajah Rubatheesan (59) from Vadmarachchi, near Jaffna, explained to that “the Tamil government and politicians have failed to protect the interests and livelihoods of our community, threatened by trawling and the illegal activities of Indian fishermen. Now we don’t get a decent catch like in the past, and that affects our livelihood.”

According to senior naval sources, “when a fleet of mechanized Indian trawlers, with iron bars and heavy metal equipment, enter Sri Lankan territorial waters, warships must take extraordinary measures to drive them off. The first thing we do is warn them to leave. If they resist our warnings, we arrest them. We always do our best to handle the matter humanely. There are reports from Indian fishermen that the Navy damaged and attacked their fishing boats, but these allegations are unsubstantiated. In October 2021 an Indian fisherman from Puthukottai, Tamil Nadu drowned when his boat capsized.”

The Jaffna District Fishermen’s Cooperative Association further explained that the Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Douglas Devananda, failed to resolve the dispute amicably, instead making the situation worse by issuing directives such as handing over seized Indian fishing boats to the local fishermen and encouraging mistreatment.

During his visit to the northern and eastern provinces, Wickremasinghe spoke of various projects, ranging from the implementation of the 13th amendment of the Constitution for a process of regional autonomy to the development of renewable energy and the promotion of tourism. The head of government stressed that the devolution of powers to the local councils can only take place with the agreement of all the parties and a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

Even with regard to the national reconciliation process, the president did not present concrete progress either: he stated that the draft of the National Action Plan for reconciliation prepared by the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation had been sent to the Attorney General for constitutional review. and will soon be presented to the Executive. Although he was reluctant to involve foreign judges in the process of establishing the truth about the events of the civil war, he has told Tamil leaders that he would study the possibility of obtaining reports from foreign observers, following the systems applied in the South and East Asian countries.

(with the collaboration of Melani Manel Perera)