A proper functioning of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) process was established to address long term grievances of the families of the disappeared. Unfortunately, this has been a disappointing process for many even after the establishment of the OMP in 2017 as part of the government’s commitment to the UN Human Rights Council to a transitional justice process for national reconciliation.
Under the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CLFI)/OMP project, NPC commenced review meetings at a regional level to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of OMP services received by the families of victims. During the first set of two review meetings held in Matara, members of victim families and government officers shared their personal stories and commented on their experiences with OMP.
According to the information that was gathered, family members showed general frustration about the services they received as well as how slow the progress was.
Relatives of some participants went missing as long ago as 1989. Reliving these memories fills them with sorrow because it is a reminder that the missing relatives will not return. In light of the current economic hardships and the fact that the missing persons were the main source of income and stability, they expect the process of reparation to support them. They said that in the past there was a shortage of documents and access to information as well as no communication from officers when they attempted to engage in the process. First and foremost, they want government officers to understand their hardships. They hope that they will be treated as humans.
The outcomes of the review meeting were submitted to a meeting with government officers, who accepted there are shortcomings in the approaches at their end. They identified the need to prioritise and give a more humane and empathetic service. On an encouraging note, there have been recent experiences of family members where officers have made follow up phone calls to check whether those affected are receiving the appropriate governmental benefits and giving the families the sense that they want to support them. Some government officers expressed sympathy and wanted to assist but there are rules and procedures to be followed. They said there was poor official communication and no clear instructions and directions from their superiors.
The District Secretary of Matara Y. Wickramasiri and High Commissioner of Canada for Sri Lanka and Maldives Eric Welsh attended the second meeting. Mr. Wickramasiri mentioned the importance of the programme and benefits the families would receive. Mr. Welsh spoke to families after the meeting. The exchanges helped to understand the current situation for families of missing persons and their experiences with the OMP process as well as identifying the gaps.
NPC will continue to capacitate OMP staff in the districts to improve their service delivery, strengthen and sustain the OMP process.