Rally for refugees in Toronto

A Tamil Canadian protester chokes back tears as she recalls a cellphone conversation she had several days ago with a cousin detained in a Sri Lankan camp holding Tamils displaced during the country's civil war.

"She doesn't know where her husband is. Her children have had no school for the past six months. There is no food or medication," said Uthayakumary Prapaharan, one of the roughly 600 people who gathered Saturday (November 21) to protest in front of the Sri Lankan consulate.

Prapaharan, a native of Sri Lanka who has lived in Canada for 23 years, said more than 60 of her relatives have spent time in the camps since the civil war ended in May.

"Some of my relatives have left the camps, so we know they are alive," said Prapaharan.

"Some are lost or have died already. But about 20 of my cousins and their kids are still inside the camps."

Tamil Canadians and their supporters, including Liberal MP Bob Rae and NDP Leader Jack Layton, expressed skepticism at Saturday's rally over the promises by Sri Lanka to not only allow the refugees to leave the camps but also to resettle the displaced Tamils.

"They are allowing some people to leave, but there's a question of where they are going," said Rae.

"There is a lot of talk of people being allowed to leave the big camp but there is a question of where they are being moved to and where they are being allowed to settle."

The rally included repeated calls for non-governmental organizations and independent news media to be allowed into the camps.

"International observers don't really have full access to the camps, so we can't know for sure what's going on. That has to change," said Layton.

"The Canadian government has to insist that international observers be permitted."

So far, information has been sketchy.

"We only know a little bit through people who have been allowed to visit their relatives," said Ranjan Sri Ranjan, president of the Canadian Tamil Congress, which represents roughly 300,000 Tamils living in Canada.

"Even then, the people cannot touch their relatives. They have to stand behind barbed-wire fences and talk from several feet away."

The turnout was smaller than the 2,000 protesters anticipated by organizers. It was also a fraction of the up to 4,000 who stopped traffic on University Ave. in March.

"A lot of people are disillusioned. They don't know what to do," said Raj Thavaratnasingham, a member of Canadians Concerned About Sri Lanka, one of the organizers of the event.

"I have talked to so many people who are upset that nothing is happening to change things."

(Edited)