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Sri Lanka

My Lords, is the Minister aware that it is very welcome to see our Foreign Secretary go to Sri Lanka? If nothing else, it must have been a reality check for him. Does the Minister agree, however, that whatever way we look at it, the Tamil Tigers are a terrorist organisation? They do not represent the Tamil community. Is it not incredible that close to one quarter of a million people have been used as a human shield for the past four months, as they have been driven from the northern end of central Sri Lanka right to the far north-east of that country? Furthermore, the Tamil Tigers could have released all those people at any point but still today they refuse to let them go. Is it not a fact that the only people who have managed to escape have done so because of the smashing of the bund by the government forces ensured that refugees could come through? It is a war, not a conflict. It is a war that has gone on for 25 years and must be brought to an end when the Tamil Tigers either surrender or are eliminated. Turning to humanitarian matters, is it not time that the international community recognised that there are a quarter of a million refugees there in temporary camps who must be resettled? Should we in this country not now take a lead? Why could we not take a lead in restoring Kilinochchi, the provincial centre for Sri Lanka, and encourage others to join us so that we can resettle those poor people—not just Tamil, not just Sinhalese, not just Muslims? There are nearly 250,000 in the current camps and 100,000 left over from the earlier stages of the war. If this country believes in its special relationship with Sri Lanka, can we not give a real lead? Although the £2.5 million promised by the Prime Minister on Sunday is welcome, it is only a drop in the ocean. Should we not be talking about substantial sums to achieve the resettlement of those poor people?