I just had a baby last month, that’s why I can’t be there today, but I want to give my support and thanks to the launch of the chartered humanitarian ship Mercy Mission  launching March 31, 2009

I made it out in the late 80’s and so my baby is going to grow up with hospitals, healthcare, food, free education, freedom of speech and religion, a life expectancy of 80-90 years and many of the liberties that we in democratic world take for granted.

A baby born in the Vanni Region today is getting no access to hospitals (they bombed the last one and it’s run out of supplies.) There is limited food because the government banned the aid agencies and there is no education because the trapped civilians only have one option and that is to make it to the government-run internment camps where they only enforce the language and ideas of the government. The Tamils have less rights than the animals in Sri Lanka.

The Mercy Mission will carry dry food and medicines for Tamil civilians in Vanni within the Sri Lankan Government’s “safe zone.”  Many have already perished from starvation and preventable disease. We can not ignore these genocidal conditions , and if the aim of the SL Government is to protect the lives of the civilians, then this ship will reach its destination and lives will be saved.

Thank you very much,

Maya Arulpragasam (M.I.A.)