Qld Tamils hold peace meeting

Qld Tamils hold peace meeting

By Bill Mason BRISBANE The crisis in the Tamil Eelam, the northern area of Sri Lanka under siege from government troops, and the homeland of the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka, has become a humanitarian tragedy of mammoth proportions, chairperson Dr Jeyarajan told a prayer meeting for peace here on November 25. The meeting of more than 100 people heard prayers from representatives of the Islamic, Hindu and Christian faiths. Senator John Woodley from the Australian Democrats, and MPs Garrie Gibson from the ALP and Bill Taylor from the Liberal Party, expressed concern at the suffering of the war victims and the estimated 500,000 displaced persons, now homeless as a result of the Sri Lankan government's latest offensive in the northern Jaffna peninsula. Tamil Association representative Dr Navaratnam called on the Australian government to send a fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka, and to pressure the regime in Colombo to accept international mediation of the conflict.