ladyarkles
03-27-2005, 07:18 PM
Article published Mar 27, 2005
Reluctant refugee
All that Kumari Navaratne wants to do is go home.
But she can't.
If she were to go home to Sri Lanka today, she would be arrested and jailed.
She has good reason to be afraid to speak openly, but she can't stop herself. She's tired of keeping her secret.
"I know there are risks in telling my story, but I have nothing to hide," Navaratne said.
Until April 2004, Navaratne was Sri Lanka's Secretary of the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation. From her cabinet level appointment, she managed her country's social security fund, poverty alleviation plan and welfare program. She handled an annual budget equivalent to $130 million. She chaired meetings for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. She was chauffeured to appointments. She was a successful, respected, powerful woman.
In less than one year, Navaratne has experienced life from two different perspectives. Yet, even considering the politically precarious situation Navaratne faces, her passion continues to be helping those who need help - especially women and the poor.
Prior to Sri Lanka's April 2004 elections, Navaratne and her former boss, S.B. Dissanayake, the country's former Minister of Agriculture, decided to switch their support to the party that opposed the president. Navaratne said they believed that working toward change was worth the risk.
When the president's party won, Navaratne and Dissanayake began to pay a price far beyond any expectations for their change of loyalty.
In July 2004, Navaratne decided to take a break from the political pressure. She requested short-term leave from her job and left Sri Lanka to come visit her daughter, Anuradha Herath, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Louisiana. Her visit has turned into a much longer, more complicated ordeal than she and her family anticipated.
It is ironic that at this point in her life, she is exactly the kind of person she would have been in the position to help only a year ago. Navaratne now knows that the line between the powerful and the powerless is a fine one.
While her story doesn't have a well-defined beginning, middle and end, it, like everything in Navaratne's world, begins halfway around the globe in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan loyalty
"We were not rich, but we were a comfortable family," Navaratne said. "We were not westernized, but we were good, quality people. We didn't have a fancy house, but we got a good education. My mother saw to that. In 1963, my brother and I were sent to Colombo for school. At that time, it was one of the best schools in Colombo. I feel now that maybe I tried to do the same thing for my daughters. My mother said, 'You should learn English.' I thought beyond that - I thought that my daughters should go abroad."
As her oldest daughter completes her degree at UL, Navaratne's husband, H.M. Navaratne Banda, and their 15-year-old daughter, Dilini Herath, continue their lives in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
She misses them; they miss her. Most Americans would ask, "Why don't they come here?"
Especially when they learn that Dilini Herath was born in Ohio while her mother was getting her doctorate in geography at Kent State University. Dilini Herath is an American citizen.
Yet, Navaratne e-mails her husband daily asking whether he thinks it would be safe for her to return to Sri Lanka. Every day, he returns her e-mail with the same answer - no.
In truth, she doesn't want them to abandon their lives and the family's home in Sri Lanka. Their doing so might lessen the chances of her own return. She is resolute in that her family's home is in Sri Lanka.
"Those are the people I want to help. This may sound small, but I have seven dogs back home. My life is there," Navaratne said. "Why we are put in a situation like this after 56 years of our lives? We spent all those years educating ourselves. ...After all this education, this is where we are. These things bother me all the time."
Politics and power
Navaratne is now working to gather needed information to file for political asylum. She has kept careful records of each step she has taken along the way. A simple Internet search yields ample evidence of her political victimization. Accusations against her and her former boss, Dissanayake, were often mentioned in Sri Lankan newspapers. If she is granted political asylum, she will be able to work and live in the United States until it is safe for her to return to Sri Lanka. Otherwise, her tourist visa expires in July and she would be legally required to return to Sri Lanka.
Before Navaratne left Sri Lanka, Dissanayake was accused of contempt of court. Navaratne testified in that case. He was pardoned. In August, he was arrested again - this time for misuse of funds. Even though Navaratne already was in the United States, an order was issued for her not to leave Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, police questioned her husband and 15-year-old daughter. Their home was searched three times. They seized copies of documents that Navaratne had already made available to the government.
Dissanayake was held for months awaiting Navaratne's testimony on the charges against him. When she nor evidence on initial charges materialized, a warrant was issued for her arrest and the charges against Dissanayake changed.
In December, he was convicted of speaking out against the country's supreme court. He currently is serving two years of hard labor in prison.
Source: Jan Risher
jrisher@theadvertiser.com
Follow rest of story here: Reluctant refugee (http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050327/NEWS01/503270317/1002)
Reluctant refugee
All that Kumari Navaratne wants to do is go home.
But she can't.
If she were to go home to Sri Lanka today, she would be arrested and jailed.
She has good reason to be afraid to speak openly, but she can't stop herself. She's tired of keeping her secret.
"I know there are risks in telling my story, but I have nothing to hide," Navaratne said.
Until April 2004, Navaratne was Sri Lanka's Secretary of the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation. From her cabinet level appointment, she managed her country's social security fund, poverty alleviation plan and welfare program. She handled an annual budget equivalent to $130 million. She chaired meetings for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. She was chauffeured to appointments. She was a successful, respected, powerful woman.
In less than one year, Navaratne has experienced life from two different perspectives. Yet, even considering the politically precarious situation Navaratne faces, her passion continues to be helping those who need help - especially women and the poor.
Prior to Sri Lanka's April 2004 elections, Navaratne and her former boss, S.B. Dissanayake, the country's former Minister of Agriculture, decided to switch their support to the party that opposed the president. Navaratne said they believed that working toward change was worth the risk.
When the president's party won, Navaratne and Dissanayake began to pay a price far beyond any expectations for their change of loyalty.
In July 2004, Navaratne decided to take a break from the political pressure. She requested short-term leave from her job and left Sri Lanka to come visit her daughter, Anuradha Herath, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Louisiana. Her visit has turned into a much longer, more complicated ordeal than she and her family anticipated.
It is ironic that at this point in her life, she is exactly the kind of person she would have been in the position to help only a year ago. Navaratne now knows that the line between the powerful and the powerless is a fine one.
While her story doesn't have a well-defined beginning, middle and end, it, like everything in Navaratne's world, begins halfway around the globe in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan loyalty
"We were not rich, but we were a comfortable family," Navaratne said. "We were not westernized, but we were good, quality people. We didn't have a fancy house, but we got a good education. My mother saw to that. In 1963, my brother and I were sent to Colombo for school. At that time, it was one of the best schools in Colombo. I feel now that maybe I tried to do the same thing for my daughters. My mother said, 'You should learn English.' I thought beyond that - I thought that my daughters should go abroad."
As her oldest daughter completes her degree at UL, Navaratne's husband, H.M. Navaratne Banda, and their 15-year-old daughter, Dilini Herath, continue their lives in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
She misses them; they miss her. Most Americans would ask, "Why don't they come here?"
Especially when they learn that Dilini Herath was born in Ohio while her mother was getting her doctorate in geography at Kent State University. Dilini Herath is an American citizen.
Yet, Navaratne e-mails her husband daily asking whether he thinks it would be safe for her to return to Sri Lanka. Every day, he returns her e-mail with the same answer - no.
In truth, she doesn't want them to abandon their lives and the family's home in Sri Lanka. Their doing so might lessen the chances of her own return. She is resolute in that her family's home is in Sri Lanka.
"Those are the people I want to help. This may sound small, but I have seven dogs back home. My life is there," Navaratne said. "Why we are put in a situation like this after 56 years of our lives? We spent all those years educating ourselves. ...After all this education, this is where we are. These things bother me all the time."
Politics and power
Navaratne is now working to gather needed information to file for political asylum. She has kept careful records of each step she has taken along the way. A simple Internet search yields ample evidence of her political victimization. Accusations against her and her former boss, Dissanayake, were often mentioned in Sri Lankan newspapers. If she is granted political asylum, she will be able to work and live in the United States until it is safe for her to return to Sri Lanka. Otherwise, her tourist visa expires in July and she would be legally required to return to Sri Lanka.
Before Navaratne left Sri Lanka, Dissanayake was accused of contempt of court. Navaratne testified in that case. He was pardoned. In August, he was arrested again - this time for misuse of funds. Even though Navaratne already was in the United States, an order was issued for her not to leave Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, police questioned her husband and 15-year-old daughter. Their home was searched three times. They seized copies of documents that Navaratne had already made available to the government.
Dissanayake was held for months awaiting Navaratne's testimony on the charges against him. When she nor evidence on initial charges materialized, a warrant was issued for her arrest and the charges against Dissanayake changed.
In December, he was convicted of speaking out against the country's supreme court. He currently is serving two years of hard labor in prison.
Source: Jan Risher
jrisher@theadvertiser.com
Follow rest of story here: Reluctant refugee (http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050327/NEWS01/503270317/1002)