Leaked population data from the World Bank, indicates that over 100,000 Tamils remain unaccounted for after the final months of Sri Lanka's military onslaught, writes the former BBC journalist, Frances Harrison in the Huffington Post.
Citing World Bank spreadsheets, Harrison states that 101,748 people, or roughly 28,899 households are missing from Mullaitivu District, and asserts that "an international investigation is required to establish the truth about what may be one of the least reported but worst atrocities of recent decades - both in terms of the speed and the scale of the killing."
See here for full article in Huffington Post.
Extract reproducted below:
"The leaked World Bank spreadsheets broken down by village for the north of the island estimate numbers of returnees to the former conflict area in mid 2010. The Bank also cites Statistical Handbook Numbers for population in 2007 - before the fighting intensified. The two sets of data reveal 101,748 people missing from Mullaitivu District - the area that bore the brunt of the final fighting. This is the equivalent of 28,899 households. This number has been confirmed to me by the World Bank, though they add "other interpretations about the population data that are not included in the document can not be attributed to the World Bank".
A similar conclusion about the missing population can be drawn when comparing the 2010 World Bank data with census numbers from 2006. The latter were the result of a joint government and rebel head count in the area.
Sceptics might argue the 2006 figures were probably exaggerated by the Tigers and local officials close to them in order to secure more aid. However exactly the same argument could be made for inflating numbers in 2010, which were similarly used for allocating aid.
It's also not clear if the 2010 World Bank resettlement estimates include the 11,000 Tamil combatants held in detention at that point - or many thousands of Tamils who bribed their way out of the internment camp and escaped to southern India. It's also possible some of the missing Tamils settled elsewhere in the island but unlikely very large numbers because they do not appear elsewhere in the northern provinces judging by the Bank's own data. The onus is now on the Sri Lankan government to explain why huge numbers of people appear to be missing from their own population data."
