Aid in Sri Lanka – Traditional donors and their failure to incite change

Abstract

In 2009 the ongoing civil war in Sri Lanka reached a climax. Western aid conditionality, which was previously used as a means of keeping Sri Lanka focused on peace initiatives, failed as leverage against impending human rights abuses. Such conditionality infringed on the sovereignty of the country and its ability to deal with its own terrorist issues without external intervention. This form of aid conditionality was particularly ineffective as it was in the face of Eastern donors who were unconditional in their offers of aid. These Western conditions therefore acted as a catalyst in Sri Lanka’s movement to Chinese, Indian and Iranian donors, while culminating an atmosphere of anti-Western rhetoric and interference in the country. Significant amounts of aid have since been given by these donors to Sri Lanka resulting in economic growth along with a myriad of human rights abuses, where during the last few months of the war an estimated 40,000 civilians died and afterward as a result of disappearances. This paper argues against the use of conditional aid as leverage against human rights abuses when it infringes on the sovereignty of a nation, particularly while in the face of non traditional donors. This paper stresses the need for caution and awareness in the use of aid conditionality taking local perspectives into consideration.