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Dear Supporters,
Below is a report and appeal for help from our
affiliate organization in Sri Lanka, which is
attempting to organize a response to the massive
devastation suffered by the workers and poor of their
country. Please read the report and consider giving a
donation to their efforts.
You can send checks to our national address (below),
with "Sri Lanka" written in the memo, and we will see
that your full donation reaches Sri Lanka as soon as
possible.
Socialist Alternative
P.O. Box 45343
Seattle, WA 98145
Ty Moore,
for Socialist Alternative
------------------
Devastation in Sri Lanka
The tragic devastation wreaked by the earthquake and
tidal wave in the Indian Ocean has killed tens of
thousands of people. In Sri Lanka alone, the death
toll has reached 13,000 and is still rising.
A number of members of the United Socialist Party (CWI
Sri Lanka) are missing, including comrade Piyatilake,
a member of the USP's Central Committee who was living
and working in Galle, one of the towns in the South of
Sri Lanka to have been hardest hit by the 'Tsunami'.
Relatives of other party members have been killed and
the homes of many have been destroyed.
News is being awaited of the fate of USP comrades from
the Eastern coastal district -especially those from
around Pottuil - where whole villages and towns have
been destroyed. We will post more information when we
receive it and carry material on the web-site dealing
with the response of the USP to the disaster.
Obviously huge resources must found to save the lives
of the injured and to provide clean water, food and
shelter. Money must be switched from the Sri Lankan
military (who have been preparing for a resumption of
the island's civil war) into a massive government
programme for the immediate reconstruction of homes
and livelihoods. There should be the maximum
democratic control over all aid and emergency
programmes through elected committees of workers and
poor people in each area and nationally. No privileges
for the rich and no discrimination on grounds of
nationality, religion or political affiliation!
The blows struck to the United Socialist Party by this
tragedy are impossible to estimate. Galle, for
example, was an area where the USP was gaining support
and had one of its best results in the last election.
In the East and in Jaffna, our comrades fought
valiantly for the clear socialist programme of the
party, including championing full rights to
self-determination for the Tamil-speaking population
and for minorities in those areas.
The party comrades throughout the island are
experiencing a nightmare. They will need the help and
solidarity of CWI members and supporters world-wide to
overcome the immediate difficulties they face and to
rebuild the resources and fighting capacity of the
USP.
We are asking all those who wish to give support to
the United Socialist Party in the face of this
disaster, and to help build its campaigning strength,
to send donations to 'Campaign Sri Lanka',
c/o Committee for a Workers' International
PO Box 3688, London, Britain, E11 1YE
and messages of support and solidarity by e-mail
(hoping electricity and phones are
working):[email protected]
ccd to: [email protected]