Thank you so much, Chair, and Mr. Sweet, for your kindness.
Senator Segal, thank you for being here.
In your testimony, you had identified that what you saw or what you experienced was kind of an ethnic cleansing of mainly the Tamils. But also thank you for identifying that it was also the other minorities who were being oppressed, whether those are the Christian, the Muslims, the Burghers, or the others. It's not just Tamils. Yes, we Tamils are the largest minority who are being oppressed and cleansed, as you had mentioned yourself, but there are many others on that island who are having to live the reality of what this government is doing.
One question that I'd like to ask is with respect to the land grabs of the lands formerly held by the Tamils. Reports come from many places, and also individuals who I speak to on the ground in the communities, of two things: one is the colonization of military and military families in the previously Tamil-owned lands; and secondly is the development of the extractive industries that are associated with the Sri Lankan government in those same lands that were previous Tamil-owned.
One constituent of mine who went back to Sri Lanka to sell his land eventually came back in a coffin because he was beheaded for trying to claim his land. I know from personal experience that it's true, but I want to know what your experience was on the ground, as the envoy who went down there.