Where do the Tamil Tigers get their support?
Robert Rotberg of Harvard’s Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution describes the Tigers as a “thuggish” group that evolved from an anti-discrimination activism group to a mafia organization. Human Rights Watch reports that 800,000 Tamils – as much as a quarter of the Sri Lankan Tamil population – left the island because of the civil war, and the majority of the diaspora community resides in Canada, the United Kingdom, and India, which has its own Tamil population in the south. While some portion of Tamils living overseas support LTTE efforts, the Tigers often use intimidation to secure the lion’s share of their funds from abroad. LTTE operatives’ tactics include telling expatriates to contribute funds to protect the safety of family members back in Sri Lanka, as well as kidnapping affluent Tamils in Sri Lanka for ransoms secured overseas. Members of the Tamil community abroad say the culture of fear that surrounds such tactics is enough to coerce them to fund the Tigers
