Sri Lanka and the Commonwealth

The hon. Gentleman is correct. As we know, the situation is escalating, and every day more people are dying, or are injured and displaced. Individually and together, we have needed to exert huge pressure to get the profile for the issue that we have today. The purpose of the debate is to call on our Government to exert all diplomatic efforts into ending the conflict. As the Sri Lankan Government have not been willing to end the conflict, I would like my Government to call for their suspension from the Commonwealth. The history of the conflict is long and bloody. There have been atrocities from both sides, but in recent months there have been consistent reports of what begins to look like genocide. The Sri Lankan Government have dropped cluster bombs on their own people. According to aid agencies, 1,000 amputees are desperate to be evacuated, but the Red Cross cannot get to them. Meanwhile, civilians are being pummelled by artillery fire. The Government have been accused of using banned phosphorous weapons. They have attacked areas that have been designated as safe zones. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has complained that its staff are not able to secure unhindered access to civilians coming out of the conflict zone. It said that it was""deeply concerned about the plight of tens of thousands of innocent civilians trapped inside the shrinking conflict zone, where ongoing shelling and aerial bombardments are taking place.""