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New report: dark clouds over sri lanka tourism
Land grabs, mangroves killed, locals lose their livelihoods
In a new report post conflict tourism in Sri Lanka is laid bare.
War and dictatorships or military regimes leave behind societies that are torn apart and harbour great risk of discrimination and repression. Any company not wishing to be an accessory to or play a part in human rights violations must assume human rights due diligence with great commitment and special care, beyond the requirements of previous certificates.
That is the conclusion drawn from a recent study on tourism and human rights in Sri Lanka by the Society for Threatened Peoples Switzerland. A discussion paper provides tour operators with an incentive for elaborating specific measures in their human rights due diligence in post-conflict areas.
The facts provided by the new study "Dark Clouds over the Sunshine Paradise. Tourism and Human Rights in Sri Lanka" contrast strongly with images of Sri Lanka the holiday paradise:
Traditional fishermen – a must for the photo album of any Sri Lanka traveller – are being ousted from their traditional fishing sites, where hotels now reside. New resorts deny hundreds of fishermen access to the sea. Mangrove forests protecting the coast against erosion as well as providing women and children with fishing grounds for shrimps and prawns are cut down to make way for new tourism complexes. Thus the livelihood of fishermen and their families is seriously threatened. In the new tourism zones, land is grabbed and the residents are resettled, more often than not with insufficient warning or compensation.
Only a few people in the environment of the new tourism resorts are able to make a living from the emergent tourism. The majority of hotel employees are recruited from other Sri Lankan regions and local fishermen are hardly ever chosen as suppliers for the hotels.
Research in the three newly developed tourism zones, Kalpitiya, Kuchaveli and Passikudah, illustrate impressively how the basic rights to development, adequate living standards, and participation of the native population have been ignored and violated over the course of the massive tourism boom in Sri Lanka.
Read the full report HERE
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