Another blow to Tigers

It is fairly well known that all terror groups have seemingly legitimate front organisations that help raise funds for their survival. These organisations continue to operate even if the mother outfit itself is banned in a given country.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are no exception. The LTTE operates a vast business empire that includes a number of front organisations handling so-called humanitarian, cultural and social work primarily in the uncleared areas of Sri Lanka.

In reality, their main aim is channelling funds to the LTTE for clandestine weapons purchases, cadre training, propaganda and operational expenses. The intended recipients - the civilians - rarely see the colour of such monies.

The LTTE recently received a severe blow when the assets and funds of its main front organisation the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) were frozen by the US Government after extensive investigations revealed the extent to which the LTTE had misused the funds for its own benefit.

The UK too had de-listed the TRO as a charity organisation. Now Sri Lanka itself has proscribed the TRO, which received a huge quantum of funds following the tsunami disaster in 2004.

Following the US decision, Sri Lanka had already appealed to the 15 countries that have TRO offices and international organisations and INGOs that deal with the TRO directly or indirectly to take action against this organisation and to cease any transactions.

The proscription of the TRO in Sri Lanka will augment Lanka’s case against the TRO and the LTTE. A freeze on TRO funds was already effective.

An appeal will also be made from them to review the operations and its relationships with other LTTE front organisations such as White Pigeon.

This will really be a victory for the Tamil people here and abroad who forced to pay monthly sums to LTTE front organisations. Human rights groups have documented how the LTTE engages in extortion for fund raising, often going to the extent of threatening the lives of relatives of unwilling donors.

One of the most effective ways of crushing terror groups is stopping their flow of funds. The LTTE will now find it difficult to raise funds abroad and channel them here through formal and informal channels.

This will impact severely on the LTTE fund raising and arms procurement network, which has already suffered several major setbacks.

In fact, the main purpose of fund raising is arms procurement and any impediment to raising funds directly affects the group’s weapons purchases. The Navy’s recent successes whereby nearly 10 LTTE weapons ships were destroyed have also added to the LTTE’s woes.

The emerging laws on money laundering and terrorist financing will be a blow to all terror groups who use illegitimate channels to transfer money to their secret coffers.

Having perceived the global reach of terrorist organisations, more countries are working together, sharing intelligence and information to nip their heinous designs in the bud. Such cooperation is essential to save the world from acts of terrorism and carnage.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s appeal to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) to consider a Global Fund for Aquaculture is most timely, given the importance of the fisheries industry to many countries including Sri Lanka.

The main thrust of his argument was that this would help the fisheries industry in developing countries to be sustainable, competitive and responsible.

In fact, developed countries have to take the blame for depleting fish stocks in the open ocean, as their massive trawlers equipped with advanced fish-finding sonar are no match for even the multi-day boats operated by fishermen in developing countries.

Sri Lanka will soon inherit a massive ocean area many times bigger than its existing area. Nevertheless, we have not been able to successfully exploit the marine resources even in that limited area. It is indeed pathetic that Sri Lanka has to depend on canned fish imports while a vast ocean teeming with fish stocks surrounds it.

The modernisation of the fisheries industry will help Sri Lanka to reduce its dependency on imported fish and provide consumers with fresh fish at more affordable prices.

The development of the inland fisheries industry must also be given priority. The ban effected on inland fisheries by a previous administration was a major setback to the industry, which took several years to recover afterwards.

The Daily News recently featured how inland fish farmers in Padaviya, North Central Province, were doing a roaring business with traders coming from all parts of Sri Lanka to buy their catch. We hope that more inland waterways and tanks would be used for aquaculture in a similar manner.

With experts predicting a food crisis in the not-so-distant future, the sustainable management of ocean resources worldwide is essential to feed a growing population. Sri Lanka’s proposal should be considered in earnest in this context.