Jan 31, 2020 (LBO) - Crisis Group, an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict has identified and listed Sri Lanka in its watch list 2020.
The early-warning Watch List identifies up to ten countries and regions at risk of conflict or escalation of violence.
In these situations, early action, driven or supported by the EU and its member states, could generate stronger prospects for peace, the Group said in a statement.
The Watch List 2020 includes a President’s Note and detailed conflict analyses on Bolivia, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes region, Ethiopia, the U.S.-Iranian impasse, ISIS returnees, Libya, Sri Lanka, Tunisia and Ukraine.
Robert Malley, president and chief executive of Crisis Group says the islands recent shift in policy, rooted in part in the ethno-nationalism of many among Sri Lanka’s Sinhala and Buddhist majority, threatens to increase ethnic and religious tensions and dangerously weaken checks on executive and state power.
He says these changes pose a deep challenge to EU policy in Sri Lanka, which has supported ethnic reconciliation, human rights and political stability rooted in inclusive governance – and which now finds itself at cross-purposes with the country’s leadership.
"Against this backdrop, the EU and member states should continue to press Colombo to honour commitments made by the prior administration to strengthen rights-respecting governance and the rule of law, while making clear that the EU will not support programs that encourage political repression or discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities."
You can download a full report at the following link.