Following motion was introduced by Selva and moved by Sarah Mayo at the Youth Fight for Jobs Conference held on 9th of may in London.
–Please visit http://www.youthfightforjobs.com to find out more about YFFJ Campaign.
Support ‘Stop the Slaughter of Tamils –
campaign to end the war and fight for democracy in Sri Lanka’
The horrific situation faced by the Tamil people in the north of Sri Lanka gets worse by the day.
For months hundreds of thousands have been trapped with no food or health facilities. The
shelling by the Sri Lankan military has led Human Rights Watch to describe the so-called safety
zone as one of the most dangerous places in the world. Beyond the war the horror looks set
to continue as The Guardian reports of the building of detention camps to hold up to 400,000
people.
Internationally this slaughter has been met with a massive outcry of anger by the Tamil
diaspora. Hundreds of thousands have taken part in demonstrations. In Tamil Nadu there
have been important strikes such as that of the advocates’ union and protests and university
occupations by students. In London thousands have occupied Parliament Square.
It is urgent that this movement is supported by the labour and trade union movement. SST was
launched in Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India as a broad and democratic campaign to help build
this solidarity on an international basis. The campaign has the support of well-known writers
and human rights activists. Arundhathi Roy sent a statement of support to the meeting which
has been carried in The Guardian and elsewhere. John McDonnell MP has given his support to
the campaign.
An international day of action was held on 8 April against the Indian government’s support
for the Sri Lankan government with protests in Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, Tel Aviv, New York,
Belgium, Sweden, Dublin and Ireland.
Please see http://www.stoptheslaughteroftamils.org/ for more information.
This conference resolves to:
● Support the Stop the Slaughter of Tamils campaign and add our name to the list of
sponsors.
● Affiliate to the campaign.
● Invite a SST campaign speaker to local meetings.
● Raise awareness of the situation facing the Tamil people in the north of Sri Lanka.
● Support future protests and campaigning activity of SST and other protests of the
Tamil community against the slaughter of Tamils.
Please make cheques payable to ‘SST’