Sri Lanka

The Methodist Church in Sri Lanka is a minority church in a country of mainly Buddhist character. It has 32,000 members from both large population groups, the Tamils and the Singhalese. This is something special, as the recent history of this country is marked by a bloody civil war between government troops of the Singhalese majority and the rebel organisation LTTE of the Tamil minority. During these confrontations serious crimes were committed on both sides. To this day the Tamil civilian population is still discriminated against, human rights violations are the order of every day. Tens of thousands of Tamils were forcibly relocated, they live in uncertainty and fear. The war has now come to an end due to massive military action by the government, but still hundreds of thousands of Tamils are detained in so-called refugee camps. The Methodist Church considers that working for peace and recon­ciliation as one of its major tasks. Its work as a bridge-builder gives signs for hope.