Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation
Encyclopedia
The Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) was established in 1985 in Tamil Nadu
in southeastern India
by Tamil
refugees fleeing the violence in North and East Sri Lanka
. Its operation to provide relief to the refugees in India continued until 1987. After the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord and the subsequent fighting between the LTTE and the Indian Peace-Keeping Force, TRO moved its operation and headquarters to Jaffna in Northern Sri Lanka.
The headquarters moved again to Killinochchi after Jaffna
was taken by Government Forces in 1995. After the signing of the CeaseFire Agreement in 2002 between the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka, TRO was recognised by the Government as a legitimate NGO and was granted NGO status. During the period 2002 to 2005 TRO operated from offices across Sri Lanka in both Government and LTTE controlled areas providing post war and post tsunami relief and rehabilitation to Tamil community.
On November 15, 2007, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated the TRO under Executive Order 13224, aimed to financially isolate U.S. designated foreign terrorist groups and their support network. Under this order, the Department of the Treasury froze all assets held by the TRO and its designees in U.S. territories, and formally prohibited U.S. citizens from transacting with the TRO or its members.
The Department of Treasury stated "that "T.R.O. passed off its operations as charitable, when in fact it was raising money for a designated terrorist group responsible for heinous acts of terrorism ... in the United States, T.R.O. has raised funds on behalf of the LTTE through a network of individual representatives. According to sources within the organization, T.R.O. is the preferred conduit of funds from the United States to the LTTE in Sri Lanka".
http://www.sangam.org/articles/view/?id=340
http://www.tamilcanadian.com/tc/387/Tamils_Rehabilitation_Organisation/
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
in southeastern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
by Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
refugees fleeing the violence in North and East Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. Its operation to provide relief to the refugees in India continued until 1987. After the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord and the subsequent fighting between the LTTE and the Indian Peace-Keeping Force, TRO moved its operation and headquarters to Jaffna in Northern Sri Lanka.
The headquarters moved again to Killinochchi after Jaffna
Jaffna
Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...
was taken by Government Forces in 1995. After the signing of the CeaseFire Agreement in 2002 between the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka, TRO was recognised by the Government as a legitimate NGO and was granted NGO status. During the period 2002 to 2005 TRO operated from offices across Sri Lanka in both Government and LTTE controlled areas providing post war and post tsunami relief and rehabilitation to Tamil community.
On November 15, 2007, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated the TRO under Executive Order 13224, aimed to financially isolate U.S. designated foreign terrorist groups and their support network. Under this order, the Department of the Treasury froze all assets held by the TRO and its designees in U.S. territories, and formally prohibited U.S. citizens from transacting with the TRO or its members.
The Department of Treasury stated "that "T.R.O. passed off its operations as charitable, when in fact it was raising money for a designated terrorist group responsible for heinous acts of terrorism ... in the United States, T.R.O. has raised funds on behalf of the LTTE through a network of individual representatives. According to sources within the organization, T.R.O. is the preferred conduit of funds from the United States to the LTTE in Sri Lanka".
See also
http://www.tro.org.au/http://www.sangam.org/articles/view/?id=340
http://www.tamilcanadian.com/tc/387/Tamils_Rehabilitation_Organisation/
External links
- Official website of the TRO
- TRO USA
- Overview of TRO from TamilNation website
- TRO - LTTE nexus
- International moves to crack down on LTTE’s biggest fund-raising sources
- Article describing the TRO relief effort after the Tsunami