Diversity Matters The Unspoken Truth: Working With Survivors of the Sri Lankan Civil War

Diversity Matters

The Unspoken Truth: Working with Survivors of the Sri Lankan Civil War

By, A. Keshani Perera & Aileen Torres, PhD

Introduction

Beautiful sandy beaches, breathtaking views from the mountains, friendly smiles, and great hospitality are some of the million things that make Sri Lanka the “pearl of the Indian ocean.” Located southwest of the Bay of Bengal and separated from the Indian peninsular by the Gulf of Manner and the Palk Strait, this beautiful island has been identified to be one of the friendliest countries in the world. Known by other names previously, such as Ceylon, Thambapanni, Taprobane, and Serendib, the country currently known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and is home to a multiethnic population of 21 million individuals. The country is very diverse, with the Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamil, Indian Tamil, and Sri Lankan Moors comprising the largest specific cultural and ethnic groups. The Sinhalese comprise the majority population and largely speak in Sinhala, which is the native tongue. Sinhala and Tamil languages are recognized as national languages and English is identified as a second language. A civil war erupted in 1983, lasting for approximately 25 years (1983-2009) and resulting in refugees spread out all over the world and the loss of over 100,000 lives. Many Sri Lankans sought refuge in other countries such as the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and India, while many others survived in refugee camps in Tamil borderlands of India. New York City, Long Island, Staten Island, and Central New Jersey are home to the largest Sri Lankan communities in the United States. The New York City Metropolitan Area contains the largest Sri Lankan community in the United States, primarily in the Tompkinsville neighborhood of Staten Island. New Jersey identifies South Asians, including Sri Lankan, Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi immigrants as the largest growing population (57.2%) in the state of New Jersey between 2000-2010. The US Census (2017) indicates that there are approximately 49,116 Sri Lankans in the US. This paper will explore the cultural beliefs and values, personal experiences, pre-, during, and post-war attitudes, and the struggles of the Sri Lankan diaspora in the United States.

The Sri Lankan Culture, Beliefs, and Values

The documented history of Sri Lanka dates over 3000 years. With a rich history and cultural heritage, the island nation is known to be dominantly a Theravada Buddhist country. The Sri Lankan community was once highly based on a caste system, some of which still exist to date among the majority and minority communities. Following colonization by the Portuguese, Dutch, and the British, the class and caste systems changed and shifted to its current representation of lower to the upper class. The collectivistic value systems of the country emphasize family relationships, familial responsibility, the importance of the collective, resiliency, and growth through adversity, the importance of culture and history, as well as self-control, including the suppression of affect and maintaining a strong and stable stance. It is important to explore how some of their values, cultural aspects, and beliefs may have contributed to the resilience of the Sri Lankan community across multiple traumatic events. While some literature is present on this topic, most literature explores one side of the story.

Therefore, this article attempts to capture the experiences, attitudes, and beliefs of both minority and majority perspectives pre-, during, and post-war. All the information in the following section were collected via individual interviews and contain subjective experiences of individuals.

Growing Up During a Civil War

Sri Lankan historical literature identifies two crucial incidents that significantly contributed towards the start of the ethnic conflict and nationalism between the Sinhala government and the rebel group, the Tigers of the Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The first is the burning of the Jaffna Public library in 1981 that housed priceless and irreplaceable ancient manuscripts and cultural literature. The library was the center of the Tamil culture and learning and the destruction of the building was an attack on the Sri Lankan Tamils at the core of their cultural identity (Jayasuriya, 2016). The second incident can be identified as the July 1983 riots, also known as “Black July.” The riots were eruptions of anger by the Sinhalese in response to the murders of 13 Sinhalese soldiers in the North by the LTTE. The Tamil guerrillas were rated as the most dangerous guerrilla army in the world (Jayasuriya, 2016). The riots led to looting and destruction of Tamil homes, businesses, and lives. Tamils sought refuge in the homes of their Sinhalese neighbors, while some of their family members were burned alive in their own homes (Jayasuriya, 2016).

“I remember hearing Kafeer jets fly above our school and I would close my eyes and pray to

God it wasn’t a bomb.”

Many Sri Lankans lived years constantly scared for their lives not knowing if they would return home safely from school. While the whole island was affected by the civil war, it is important to consider the rates of trauma exposure varied based on ethnicity and location. One study showed that only 4.7% of 188 Sinhalese children in the South were affected by the war, compared to 59.2% of the Tamil children who were located in the North and Northeast areas of the island. Therefore, it is important to explore the experiences of each ethnic/regional, and age group (Catani et al., 2010). The personal experiences of several individuals who lived during the civil war were interviewed and this article describes the narrative themes. The interviewees are two local Sinhala and Tamil individuals who are currently based in Sri Lanka and two Sinhala and Tamil individuals who have relocated and currently live in the United States. These narratives describe some of the lifestyle’s differences that many majority and minority individuals from different parts of Sri Lanka have experienced. These cases illustrate the psychological and societal pressures that these individuals encountered and how these may have impacted their post-war attitudes. While it is important to note that varying levels of impact and experiences are inevitable, these accounts set a solid foundation to understanding the everyday lives of Sri Lankan citizens who lived through the civil war, allowing psychologists who work with these populations to gain some basic knowledge of the scope of the experiences and providing a trauma-informed lens to employ when working with this immigrant population.

The Beginning of the Dark Times

Noeline (pseudonym) is a woman in her 50s. She is a homemaker and a businesswoman. Her experiences capture the start of the civil war and the aspects that are usually not talked about or addressed. Her accounts may be similar to those who lived in Sri Lanka during her generation and immigrated to the United States shortly after the war began. Noeline is a descendant of the Colombo Chetty’s (a district Tamil ethnic group that descends from a trading caste in India). Noelene’s family was brought up as Sinhalese. She attended a high tier catholic school in Colombo and described the fear and clear visual details of the event. She was only 16 years old when the riots broke out in Colombo in 1983. Noeline described that the riots began when the Sinhala majority burnt down the Jaffna library.

"It was 9:30 am when the school closed, the principal sent everyone home in private school vans. My friends and I decided to take the train home. We got to the train station and saw the whole sky covered with black smoke. We saw fires break out in the next town and felt scared for our lives, we did not know what was happening."

She recounted the events that took place when they finally arrived at the main station to catch their connecting train:

"Sinhala people were breaking the Tamil shops in the city, they were looting all their belongings and distributing it to the Sinhala public. When we finally got into the connecting train, the train stopped in every single station. Sinhala people were shouting at the passengers, looking for

Tamil individuals. They were looking for them to kill them, we had to hide our friends. It was a very scary situation. When we eventually got home, we heard multiple blasts.

Sinhala people had burnt multiple factories. We had a gas factory that was close to our house and they had set fire to it. The blasts were all the gas tanks catching fire, we couldn’t stay inside the house as the house was shaking. All of us were outside the house and my mother had packed up all our jewelry, money, and medicine; we were ready to run."

Noeline also recalled that after a while of ongoing riots and continuous curfews, families were struggling to meet their daily needs and put food on the table, and many rationed the little food they had. What followed these events left many families afraid of their lives.

“People were going house to house with machetes and swords looking for Tamil people. We had some relatives who were living at our house during this time. A group of people was banging on our gate asking us to send the Tamils out. My relatives had dark skin and they thought they were Tamils; they were Sinhala. The truth is, we had a servant at home who was Tamil, we hid him in the house and didn’t let him out at all.

We were scared of what would happen. We saw

Tamils being burned alive; I can still see it in my mind so vividly.”

This statement exhibits the vivid memories and fear that many citizens experienced. Another important theme that arose throughout the conversation with Noeline is the collectivistic desire to protect their servant and member of the household. Noeline recalled that the schools eventually opened, but the reality was that nothing was ever the same. She noted that many bomb blasts occurred across the island following the riots. Children were taught how to save themselves during a bomb blast, frequent bomb drills were conducted in schools, and children were taught to be mindful of their surroundings. She recalled that unattended parcels triggered anxiety, and family members did not travel together.

“Every person in the family would take different modes of transport. Parents would never travel together because if something happens to one parent at least the children have one parent left. We would always listen to the radio, to make sure that we are aware of whatever is going on. Becoming a parent during this time was quite challenging. When I sent my child to school, I had memorized the license plate of her school van. The radio would announce the vans that would be caught at a bomb blast or whatever, you never knew if your child would come home from school. To this date, I don’t know where some of my friends are, they are Tamils and they left the country during this time. I have no idea if they are alive or dead.” Born into the War

Dilushi (pseudonym) a Sinhala, 29-year-old teacher, was born and raised in the city of Colombo and has immigrated to the United States in her early 20s. While she did not report any experiences before the start of the war, as she was born during the war, she did recount what life was like living through and growing up during the war.

“When we were sent to school, our parents didn’t know what would happen to us, life was so uncertain. There were multiple bomb blasts around the area I lived in. My school was also located in a high-security zone, which meant that higher-ranked individuals in the forces either lived or worked around the area. Our school van had to drop us about half a mile from school because vehicles were not allowed in, so we had to walk. When we finally got to the school, we have to go through a metal detector and a thorough bag check. I remember praying every day to get the opportunity to come back home safely. During this time many school events were canceled, and we lost out on a lot of things. Parents couldn’t even come to pick us up from school without special permission."

Dilushi reflected further on her experience in attending a school that was situated in a high-security zone where many government officials and military officials worked and lived.

“Because the school was located in a highsecurity zone, where many high-ranking officials spent time, there was more possibility that an attack would take place. So, every time an official was going on the road, everyone had to freeze, turn away from the road and face a wall. These experiences made my school life very chaotic. I know some people in the community found these procedures very annoying because it bothered their daily routine, but the fact was that we didn’t know what could happen."

Dilushi recalled the feelings of uncertainty about individuals they face on a day to day basis. She recalled that the possibility of anyone being a suicide bomber was a constant thought as she walked through half a mile to get to her school. She also noted that while this experience made her life chaotic, she believes that life was likely worse for individuals who lived in the war zones. In fact, research supports that 92% of children in north-eastern Sri Lanka have experienced severely traumatizing events during the war, such as combat, shelling, bombing, and witnessing the death of loved ones. It is reported that at least 25% of the northern Sri Lankan children meet criteria for PTSD (Elbert et al, 2009). These rates are much higher when compared to children who lived in the southern part of the island. Speaking further on her experience being raised during a civil war, Dilushi recalled the effects these experiences have had on her mental health.

“I remember hearing the tune for breaking news on the TV, that itself triggered my anxiety. Every time you hear that its breaking news, you hold your breath for a second, hoping that everything is okay. It was like we associated breaking news with something extreme. These feelings resurfaced when the Easer attacks happened.

I felt that it took my memory back to the bad times. I do believe that this is one of the reasons people don’t like to or want to talk about the dark times. It shows how powerful those times were and how it affected us. It may not have created many negative effects, not everyone has lost a person during the war, but it did affect all of us psychologically. I also remember taking public transport and we couldn’t keep our personal belongings on the top shelf of the bus. You also had to be very vigilant and suspicious about the person who was sitting next to you. You had to make sure that they took their personal

belongings with them, and if they didn’t, you had to act quickly. That’s what they showed on TV. It was like we were living in constant uncertainty and anxiety."

The aftereffects of traumatic events are long-lasting and can sometimes be very consuming. Being born during a time of the war, you don’t often realize the different aspects of life you have missed out. Life during the war becomes your “normal.” Many changes took place immediately after the war ended in Sri Lanka. Dilushi recalls her experiences as such:

“I remember having a huge lifestyle change when the war ended. Shortly after the war ended, the movie theaters opened, stores opened until late, roads were not closed, we were able to stay out until later in the night and got to go to dinner and enjoy it. I think before that people really avoided these places, it was a scary thing to think that a suicide bomber could be anywhere and could be anyone. Living in fear makes you adopt certain biases towards others in society."

These statements suggest the importance of engaging in the therapeutic exploration of the aftereffects and post-war attitudes and biases some may hold post-war. Furthermore, the concept of growing through adversity and the gratitude for a return to normalcy should also be explored.

The Other Side of the Story

Yoga (pseudonym) is a 25-year-old Tamil student from Northern Sri Lanka, who immigrated to the United States in his late teens. He was born and raised in a neighboring town where the terrorist leader was from and therefore lived in the epicenter of the war before he eventually moved to Colombo and later to the United States. His family had ties to the Sri Lankan government as his grandfather was the chief of the village. According to Yoga, the rebel terrorist group initially started with a good motive, to fight the discrimination and fight for the representation of the Tamil people.

“Their purpose was to have the minority voice be heard, unfortunately shortly after the terrorist group lost their purpose and started attacking their own people.”

He recalled that the Sinhala and Indian armies were attacking the Tamil residents in the north and the terrorist group aimed to fight against these unfair acts. However, shortly after, the LTTE lost sight on their initial goal and stood against anyone who stood against them, including their own people. The interviewee recalled that during these times, many personal belongings, lands, houses, and even children were snatched from their families and recruited into the LTTE terrorist group.

“Many locals who were able to flee the country, fled during these times to save their children and loved ones. The rebel group started to portray the government in a negative light to receive the support of locals. All the support the locals were receiving from the government such as dry rations, kerosene oil for lamps, etc., had to go through the LTTE and were stolen by them for the most part. During this time many other international sources also funded the LTTE with money, weapons, and intelligence, including support from individuals who fled the country. You had to do whatever to stay safe, we even had a bunker in our house.”

Yoga recalled that he was privileged enough to move to Colombo with his family. Unfortunately, this was not an option for many families.

“Even though we came to Colombo, we had to leave some of our family members behind.

Therefore, traveling to the north was a monthly occurrence. Trips to Jaffna took at least 13 hours, we had to drive through 3-4 checkpoints. The checkpoints did not open till 9 am and when they did there would be a big queue so people would get to the checkpoints by around 4 am. There were 2 army checkpoints and 2 LTTE checkpoints.

Getting to a checkpoint was very nerve-wracking, especially when you are Tamil. The officers at the checkpoint would be nervous too. When they see you are Tamil, they become all serious and start searching for everything. Because my father worked for the government, he had a special ID, he would show that, and they would be nice to us. Then we will get to the LTTE checkpoint, the moment they see the government ID, they turn our car upside down. You have to wear all the jewelry you have, if they are in your bags, they will just take it.”

In 2005, the government closed all the roads that led to Jaffna, limiting individuals who had families in the north from visiting them at all.

“The terrorist group also disconnected phone lines and we couldn’t really stay in touch with them. We had to send them packages with batteries for lamps etc., they had no electricity to study or work. We did not even know if the packages would get delivered or would be stolen by the LTTE. We didn’t even know if they were alive.”

The lack of affect and fact-based statements were a common theme across all the interviews. Considering the cultural values of suppression of affect to appear resilient and strong, it is likely that many citizens may be diffused of affect and are engaged in fact-based processing. As a widely seen characteristic among any trauma population, specific consideration should be given to processing the affective experience and labeling these experiences within a safe, therapeutic space.

Post War Attitudes

A consistent theme across all interviewees, when asked about their post-war attitudes, was the prevention of another civil unrest. All of the interviewees spoke about how their lives had changed following the civil war. They emphasized increased feelings of safety and the reduced levels of anxiety and uncertainty they were feeling.

“During the riots, the Sinhalese burned the Jaffna

Library, we lost a lot of our history books and record, they were burnt to the ground. Some people still hold on to that anger, the others are trying to move on and find their origins. I just know for sure, that I would do anything to the country going into another war again.”

“We did not go through it alone; we went through it as a community. When that happens, you share the trauma with many other people, you share similar emotions and it is a helpful opportunity to talk with people who are going through similar experiences.

Adverse events make you stronger. I think all the common experiences that people have, were amplified by the Easter attacks. That definitely brought a lot of that anxiety back. That really made me think of the idea of peace, what life was like during the war, and what life has been like since the war ended.

This statement amplifies the importance of cultural practices and the paradigm of posttraumatic growth. Emerging trauma literature supports that individuals are capable of processing and exploring traumatic events by systematically examining the positive aspects individuals experience as a part of their traumatic exposure. This allows individuals to render new, helpful meanings out of unpleasant and difficult events and moves them towards post-traumatic growth (Calhoun & Tedeschi, 2006; Satkunanayagam, Tunariu & Tribe, 2010). The psychosocial reactions that become accepted within the community following a widespread traumatizing event, aka “collective trauma” should be addressed using culturally sensitive, integrative, and holistic methods of treatment. Research that explores western treatments that have been conducted in Sri Lanka following the Tsunami suggests that these measures were largely unsuccessful within this community. Therefore, significant measures should be taken on the part of the clinician to open doors towards discussing cultural experiences, cultural attitudes, and practices and to adapt and integrate culturally sensitive, holistic methods of treatments when working

with this population.

Treatment Implications

While the trauma exposures range based on the origin country, research has identified South Asian refugees to be a particularly high-risk group for trauma and PTSD (Sue et al., 2012), with significantly higher exposure to war trauma ((Roberts, Gilman, Breslau, Breslau, & Koenen, 2011). Regardless of these higher rates of exposure, only 28% of those with diagnosable conditions seek out mental health services, with many of them terminating treatment prematurely (Le Meyer, Zane, Cho, & Takeuchi, 2009). Sue et al., (2016) suggests that premature termination can be directly linked to the lack of culturally informed treatment. Therefore, the cultural implication of trauma exposure and treatment should be considered. Research suggests that many Asian trauma survivors may exhibit and report significant somatic symptoms. These somatic presentations have been linked to other factors such as cultural stigma, shame, saving the family name, and protecting the family integrity (Torres, Raghavan & Perera, 2019). These rates are also tied to lower levels of treatment-seeking and lower levels of symptom disclosure. Furthermore, the mind-body connection is emphasized in many Asian cultures and in their religious and cultural traditions. Therefore, when working with south Asian populations such as Sri Lankans, it is important to consider the mind-body connection. Another important factor to consider when working with a Sri Lankan population is the collectivistic values that are held within their culture. The western traditions of psychotherapy are built on the individualistic values of the western cultures often requiring the patient to place a significant focus on themselves. Sue (1977) suggests that this practice directly conflicts with Asian values, which are highly collectivistic. Furthermore, the practice of speaking about one’s family in therapy can be viewed as “airing dirty laundry” that is seen as bringing shame to the family. Other themes that were seen across interviewees were the importance of the collective and the importance of history and culture, growth through adversity, and repression of affect or flat affect. Furthermore, for members of a community who have lived in constant uncertainty, it is typical to hold on to something that does not vary, such as one’s culture and history. Sri Lankans derive pride from their rich history and culture and therefore clinicians who work this population should explore how these factors may affect their patients. Another element to keep in mind is the rate of emotional suppression that is often influenced by cultural stigma. For individuals who descend from a culture where speaking about one’s distress is tied to bringing shame to the family, growth through adversity becomes a norm and emotional suppression becomes a frequently used coping tool. Understanding the role that emotional suppression may play in the patient’s symptom presentation will aid clinicians in paying attention to clinical nuances such as somatic symptoms (Torres et al., 2019). Finally, previous research have suggested using a community, valued based model when working with Asian immigrants for their effectiveness within this population. Further research also supports that the treatment of Asian populations depend on a clinician’s willingness to work within the cultural and values framework of their patients (Torres et al., 2019). Therefore, a culturally sensitive, open, and curious approach should be employed when exploring their culture (Torres et al., 2019). Furthermore, other effective strategies such as enlisting family support (Sue & Morishima, 1982), proceeding slowly with the affective experience (Lorenzo & Adler, 1984; Nishio & Blimes, 1978), using directive, problem-focused techniques (Kim, 1985), and incorporating the patient’s interpretations of their symptoms (Tanaka-Matsumi, Sieden, & Lam, 1996) have been found to be effective within this population.

Conclusion

The migration and diasporic journey of many of Sri Lankans is both inspiring and fraught with potential traumatic exposure. The cumulative effects of the civil war and the Easter terrorist attacks, the Tsunami that hit the island in 2004, and related exposures to many other natural disasters have left the Sri Lankan people vulnerable to higher levels of stress and psychopathology than other communities. While many of these individuals have attempted to put the challenging past behind them, the psychological, emotional, and physical effects of the wartime and related traumatic experiences still torment many people. It is important to consider both their close knit and supportive culture alongside these challenging factors arising out of modern day Sri Lanka when providing clinical care to members of this cultural community.

About the Authors

A. Keshani Perera is a doctoral candidate in the PsyD program in Clinical Psychology at William Paterson University. Her clinical interest are in torture, trauma, abuse, and racial/ethnic minority issues. Her research focuses on immigration, psychopathology, and cultural issues. Aileen Torres, PhD is a licensed psychologist, who teaches at William Paterson University and has her own clinical practice. Her research focuses on immigrant cultural adjustment, ethnic identity development, developmental psychopathology, and childhood abuse.