Civil War Sites in northern Sri Lanka

Civil War Sites in northern Sri Lanka - Since the end of the Civil War in Sri Lanka , the areas in the north and east of the country, which previously had been too dangerous for tourism, have opened up. It is now quite safe to go and a tourism infrastructure is developing. As far as war sites are concerned, there are still plenty of scars from the brutal final phases of that war – ruins, wrecks of tanks and ships, ghost towns, as well as several new war memorials celebrating the victory of the Sri Lankan Army ( SLA ), i.e. the government side (with too much glorifying pomp, as usual). Less developed, obviously, but still to be found are relics from the defeated opponents, the Tamil Tigers or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE ), to give it its full name. (Eelam, by the way, was the suggested name of the proposed independent Tamil state that the separatists fought for.) In terms of internal tourism, a thriving "dark tourism" trade already developed not long after the end of the fighting – i.e. Sri Lankans flocking to these places to see them with their own eyes (mostly for the first time). It caused somewhat of a stir in the (Western) media – in the usual "moral panic" fashion (see here ). The media tend to see any such development as "problematic", dismissing any genuine interest in such recent history as nothing but plain voyeurism (although that accusation is rarely justifiable in actual fact). Admittedly, given the recentness of that history, it is a bit controversial to touristify these war sites so soon already (see ethical issues ). But it is a reality. Furthermore, the nascent tourism developments also channel much needed funding into the region. So it is at least economically to be welcomed! Some also see it as dubious that the SLA itself is involved in setting up tourism accommodation, for instance.