Unfair to be impatient with Sri Lanka:akashi

Senior Japanese diplomat Yasushi Akashi said Japan was not ready to go with the human rights situation in other na-

It is unfair for some developed countries, to be impatient with Sri Lanka

tions, ignoring the objective realities in Sri Lanka.

The former Japanese peace envoy said it was rather unfair for some developed countries, which have much more resources than Sri Lanka, to express impatience with Sri Lanka

and its development, but this is not fair and this is not objective.”

Mr. Akashi also recommends visits to Sri Lanka by all those who feel that Sri Lanka's efforts are insufficient, a statement issued by the Office of the Presidential Spokesman and International Media Adviser said.

“If you visit Sri Lanka you will come to know the heroic efforts of people to rebuild their own country, to rehabilitate, remove mines and last but not the least, to achieve genuine reconciliation among the people,” Mr. Akashi said. "The post-conflict development in Sri Lanka was phenomenal. For a modest sized developing country, Sri Lanka that faced big challenges with the end of the war four years ago, coped with the overwhelming task of feeding a huge number of IDPs, the majority of them housed at Menik Farm in the North," Mr. Akashi said after his meeting with President Rajapaksa. "In my several visits to the North, I saw with my own eyes how the whole country coped with the challenges of housing and giving all kinds of other care to 200,000 people, especially women and children."

Mr. Akashi said he was simply amazed by the ability of government officials, starting from the leadership, to mobilize the extra ef-

I can testify that such efforts were very effective and very rewarding. I think everyone tends to judge situation from his or her own background. That is why I feel that it is rather unfair for some developed countries, which have much more resources than Sri Lanka, to express impatience with Sri Lanka

fort in a very effective manner. Of course some international help came through the United Nations, but the bulk of the efforts came from within Sri Lanka itself, by the people themselves.

"I can testify that such efforts were very effective and very rewarding. I think everyone tends to judge a situation from his or her own background. That is why I feel that it is rather unfair for some developed countries, which have much more resources than Sri Lanka, to express impatience with Sri Lanka and its development; but this is not fair and this is not objective. Certainly, I am sure that the government and people of Sri Lanka will wish to move much more rapidly, but with Sri Lanka's limited resources what it has done by itself is amazing,” Mr. Akashi said.